Despite the apparent abundance of renowned and celebrated internationals such as Liam Williams and Damian de Allende heading East, the actual rules for international players on the field are rather strict.

Teams can include up to three Category C players (players who have represented other national teams) in their matchday squad of 23. Following that, there are Category B players, who may be from other countries but are expected to be eligible for Japan’s national team. And there are Category A players who are eligible for the national team, with 11 on the pitch and 17 in the matchday squad.

Bean-counters will notice that a team can have three Cat C and one Cat B player on the pitch, as well as three Cat C and three Cat B players in the matchday roster, therefore changes must be carefully monitored on occasion.

Two clubs have a perfect record after three weeks. Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo defeated the Kobelco Kobe Steelers 46-39 in an exciting game in Kobe. Shannon Frizell, Seta Tamanivalu, and Richie Mo’unga are the Brave Lupus’ Cat C players, and they made good use of both All Blacks, with Frizell scoring four tries and Mo’unga adding 16 points off the tee.

The Steelers have their fair share of All Black stardust, with Cat C players Brodie Retallick, Ngani Laumape, and Ardie Savea, and Bryn Gatland in charge from 10, but once centre Rob Thompson put the Brave Lupus 24-10 ahead in the first half with a well-taken try, the Steelers were always playing catch-up and would never be good enough to win.

But Saitama Wild Knights lead the way into 2024 in Division One after their third bonus-point victory out of three in the last weekend of action in the year, this one a 44-17 drubbing of Black Rams Tokyo.

The Wild Knights, led from fly-half by Japan international fly-half Rikiya Matsuda and featuring World Cup winner De Allende, had both the win and the bonus wrapped up by half-time, with hooker Atsushi Sakate finishing off two driving mauls and left wing Ryuji Noguchi also dotted down for a brace of tries and a 25-3 lead.

Wing Tomoki Osada, hooker Shota Horie, and scrum-half Keisuke Ochida all scored tries, with De Allende converting the last, while former Reds full-back Isaac Lucas (category B, still only 24 years old, and not far from Japan eligibility) scored a late consolation try for the visitors.