Malcolm Marx led the Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay, or the Kubota Spears, to the Japan Rugby League One Final in June and a month later started helping the No. 1-ranked South Africa national team to an impressive 2025 campaign.

For his efforts, Marx became the second player in as many years who calls the JRLO league home to win the World Rugby Player of the Year. Marx, the No. 46-ranked player at FloRugby, followed fellow Springbok Pieter-Steph du Toit of the Toyota Verblitz as a winner.

• Japan Rugby League One Schedule: Watch Round One On FloRugby
• Click Here For More Information On How To Watch Japan Rugby League One
• Japan Rugby League One Full Season Schedule 2025-2026

Marx was a big reason why the Spears finished 14-2-2 and third in the JRLO standings, qualifying for the playoffs and knocking off the Tokyo Sungoliaths and Saitama Wild Knights en route to the Final, where the club nearly beat the best team all season — the Brave Lupus — before falling 18-13.

This year the Spears open the season on Dec. 13 at 3 a.m. ET against the Steelers, who added 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year and FloRugby’s No. 1-ranked player, Ardie Savea.

Here’s what to know about the Kubota Spears.

How To Watch Kubota Spears in the United States

The Japan Rugby League One season is streaming live on FloRugby and the FloSports app all season long. Match replays, highlights and breaking news will also be available on both platforms.

How Did the Kubota Spears Do Last Season?

The Spears went 14-2-2 last season, finishing two points behind the second-place Wild Knights, who had the same record.

Where Do the Kubota Spears Play?

The home grounds for the Kubota Spears is Edogawa Stadium in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.

Who Coaches the Kubota Spears?

Former Vodacom Bulls coach and Fijian national coach Frans Ludeke has been the head coach of the Spears since 2016.

Japan Rugby League One Schedule 2025-2026: Here's When To Watch On FloRugby

Round 1 - December 13-14, 2025

(Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time - EST, JST - 14 hours)

• Saturday, December 13

  • 11:00 PM EST (Friday): BlackRams Tokyo vs TOKYO SUNGOLIATH

  • 12:05 AM EST (Sunday): URAYASU D-Rocks vs Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars

  • 12:30 AM EST (Sunday): TOYOTA VERBLITZ vs MIE Honda HEAT

  • 3:00 AM EST (Sunday): KOBELCO KOBE STEELERS vs Kubota Spears

• Sunday, December 14

  • 12:30 AM EST (Monday): YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES vs SHIZUOKA BlueRevs

  • 1:00 AM EST (Monday): TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO vs SAITAMA WILD KNIGHTS

Japan Rugby League One Schedule

Find out more on the Japan Rugby League One schedule at FloRugby

• Dec. 12, 2025, 11:00 p.m. ET BlackRams vs. Sungoliath
• Dec. 13, 2025, 12:05 a.m. ET D-Rocks vs. Dynaboars
• Dec. 13, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Verblitz vs. Heat
• Dec. 13, 2025, 3:00 a.m. ET Steelers vs. Spears
• Dec. 14, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Eagles vs. BlueRevs
• Dec. 14, 2025, 1:00 a.m. ET Brave Lupus vs. Wild Knights
• Dec. 20, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Spears vs. BlackRams
• Dec. 20, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Sungoliath vs. Verblitz
• Dec. 20, 2025, 10:25 p.m. ET Heat vs. Steelers
• Dec. 20, 2025, 11:40 p.m. ET Dynaboars vs. Eagles
• Dec. 21, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Wild Knights vs. D-Rocks
• Dec. 21, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET BlueRevs vs. Brave Lupus
• Dec. 26, 2025, 11:05 p.m. ET BlackRams vs. Heat
• Dec. 27, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Steelers vs. Verblitz
• Dec. 27, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Spears vs. Sungoliath
• Dec. 28, 2025, 12:00 a.m. ET BlueRevs vs. D-Rocks
• Dec. 28, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Dynaboars vs. Wild Knights
• Dec. 28, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET Eagles vs. Brave Lupus
• Jan. 9, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET D-Rocks vs. Eagles
• Jan. 10, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Sungoliath vs. Steelers
• Jan. 10, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Verblitz vs. BlackRams
• Jan. 10, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Brave Lupus vs. Dynaboars
• Jan. 10, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Wild Knights vs. BlueRevs
• Jan. 10, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET Heat vs. Spears
• Jan. 16, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET Eagles vs. Wild Knights
• Jan. 16, 2026, 10:05 p.m. ET Steelers vs. BlackRams
• Jan. 16, 2026, 11:00 p.m. ET BlueRevs vs. Dynaboars
• Jan. 17, 2026, 12:05 a.m. ET D-Rocks vs. Brave Lupus
• Jan. 17, 2026, 12:05 a.m. ET Sungoliath vs. Heat
• Jan. 17, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Spears vs. Verblitz
• Jan. 23, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET Brave Lupus vs. Spears
• Jan. 23, 2026, 11:00 p.m. ET Heat vs. D-Rocks
• Jan. 24, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Wild Knights vs. Sungoliath
• Jan. 24, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Eagles vs. Steelers
• Jan. 24, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Dynaboars vs. BlackRams
• Jan. 25, 2026, 12:00 a.m. ET BlueRevs vs. Verblitz
• Feb. 6, 2026, 10:00 p.m. ET Steelers vs. BlueRevs
• Feb. 6, 2026, 11:00 p.m. ET BlackRams vs. Wild Knights
• Feb. 6, 2026, 11:00 p.m. ET Heat vs. Brave Lupus
• Feb. 7, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Spears vs. D-Rocks
• Feb. 7, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Verblitz vs. Eagles
• Feb. 8, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET Sungoliath vs. Dynaboars
• Feb. 13, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. Verblitz
• Feb. 13, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. Heat
• Feb. 13, 2026, TBD Eagles vs. BlackRams
• Feb. 13, 2026, TBD BlueRevs vs. Spears
• Feb. 13, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. Sungoliath
• Feb. 14, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. Steelers
• Feb. 20, 2026, TBD Steelers vs. Wild Knights
• Feb. 20, 2026, TBD Spears vs. Dynaboars
• Feb. 20, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. D-Rocks
• Feb. 21, 2026, TBD Sungoliath vs. Eagles
• Feb. 21, 2026, TBD Heat vs. BlueRevs
• Feb. 27, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. Heat
• Feb. 27, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. BlackRams
• Feb. 27, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. Steelers
• Feb. 28, 2026, TBD Eagles vs. Spears
• Feb. 28, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. Verblitz
• Feb. 28, 2026, TBD BlueRevs vs. Sungoliath
• Mar. 13, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. BlueRevs
• Mar. 13, 2026, TBD Steelers vs. Dynaboars
• Mar. 13, 2026, TBD Heat vs. Eagles
• Mar. 13, 2026, TBD Spears vs. Wild Knights
• Mar. 14, 2026, TBD Verblitz vs. D-Rocks
• Mar. 14, 2026, TBD Sungoliath vs. Brave Lupus
• Mar. 19, 2026, TBD Steelers vs. Eagles
• Mar. 20, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. BlackRams
• Mar. 20, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. Sungoliath
• Mar. 20, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. Spears
• Mar. 21, 2026, TBD Verblitz vs. BlueRevs
• Mar. 21, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. Heat
• Mar. 27, 2026, TBD Eagles vs. Verblitz
• Mar. 27, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. Heat
• Mar. 27, 2026, TBD Spears vs. Brave Lupus
• Mar. 27, 2026, TBD Sungoliath vs. Wild Knights
• Mar. 27, 2026, TBD BlueRevs vs. Steelers
• Mar. 28, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. Dynaboars
• Apr. 3, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. Eagles
• Apr. 3, 2026, TBD Verblitz vs. Spears
• Apr. 3, 2026, TBD Heat vs. Sungoliath
• Apr. 3, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. BlueRevs
• Apr. 4, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. Steelers
• Apr. 4, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. D-Rocks
• Apr. 16, 2026, TBD Heat vs. BlackRams
• Apr. 17, 2026, TBD BlueRevs vs. Wild Knights
• Apr. 17, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. Brave Lupus
• Apr. 17, 2026, TBD Sungoliath vs. Spears
• Apr. 17, 2026, TBD Eagles vs. D-Rocks
• Apr. 17, 2026, TBD Verblitz vs. Steelers
• Apr. 23, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. BlueRevs
• Apr. 24, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. Eagles
• Apr. 24, 2026, TBD Spears vs. Heat
• Apr. 24, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. Verblitz
• Apr. 24, 2026, TBD Steelers vs. Sungoliath
• Apr. 24, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. Dynaboars
• Apr. 30, 2026, TBD D-Rocks vs. Wild Knights
• May 1, 2026, TBD Verblitz vs. Sungoliath
• May 1, 2026, TBD Brave Lupus vs. BlueRevs
• May 1, 2026, TBD BlackRams vs. Spears
• May 1, 2026, TBD Eagles vs. Dynaboars
• May 1, 2026, TBD Steelers vs. Heat
• May 8, 2026, TBD Heat vs. Verblitz
• May 8, 2026, TBD Wild Knights vs. Brave Lupus
• May 8, 2026, TBD BlueRevs vs. Eagles
• May 9, 2026, TBD Dynaboars vs. D-Rocks
• May 9, 2026, TBD Spears vs. Steelers
• May 9, 2026, TBD Sungoliath vs. BlackRams
• May 16, 2026, 11:05 p.m. ET BlueRevs vs. Steelers
• May 18, 2026, 1:30 a.m. ET Spears vs. Sungoliath

Japan Rugby League One Playoff Schedule

• May 24, 2026, TBD Japan Rugby League One SF #2
• May 24, 2026, TBD Japan Rugby League One SF #1
• Jun. 6, 2026, TBD Japan Rugby League One Bronze
• Jun. 6, 2026, TBD Japan Rugby League One Final

How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby

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