Dave Rennie has won the battle of the All Black coaches past and present, his Kobe Steelers beating Verblitz 38-24 in Japan Rugby League One.
The former Wallabies boss won just one of nine Tests against a New Zealand side coached by Ian Foster, but the new All Black coach is unbeaten against Foster and his long-time boss Steve Hansen since Rennie arrived in Japan.
In gaining a try-scoring bonus point on Saturday, Kobe closed the gap on championship leaders Saitama Wild Knights to just one point.
The Wild Knights overcame a 21-7 first-half deficit to beat Shizuoka BlueRevs 34-24.
Spears Funabashi Bay remain third, the absence of injured Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley not enough to prevent them from inflicting a fourth straight defeat on Tokyo Sungoliath, winning 27-22.
Before Saturday Sungoliath, the former club of Eddie Jones, had not lost four in a row since 2004.
Champions Brave Lupus consolidated their hold on the sixth and final playoffs position with a 45-26 win over Sagamihara Dynaboars.
Former Queensland Reds utility back Isaac Lucas scored twice for the second time in three weeks as the fifth-placed BlackRams Tokyo moved to within a win of a maiden finals appearance after overrunning Mie Heat 49-5 on Friday night.
The 27-year-old, whose older brothers Ben and Matt also represented Australia in the under-20 grade, is eligible for Japan on residential grounds.
He made the last of his 20 appearances for Queensland in 2020.
Yokohama Eagles won the basement battle, condemning ex-Wallaby Samu Kerevi's Urayasu D-Rocks to an 11th straight defeat with a 33-15 win in Oita.
D-Rocks, who also boast Israel Folau on their playing roster, look destined to play the end-of-season promotion/relegation series for the fourth year in a row.
