All Blacks star Beauden Barrett inspires Verblitz while Springbok’s yellow card proves costly
All Blacks and Toyota Verblitz fly-half Beauden Barrett and Springboks lock Franco Mostert.
Toshiba Brave Lupus and Suntory Sungoliath will face off in the Japan Rugby League One semi-final in three weeks’ time after the former beat the latter 36-27 in Round 15 on Saturday.
The win completed Toshiba’s first season ‘double’ over Suntory since the 2010/11 season, but they had to work for it, being put under constant pressure at scrum time and with star fly-half Richie Mo’unga watching from the stands.
Mo’unga-less Brave Lupus eke out win
But the Brave Lupus’ defence was outstanding, and their attack was clinical, with tries from Seta Tamanivalu and Nicholas McCurran helping them to a 17-10 half-time lead.
Michael Collins and Jone Nakailabula – the latter atoning for an earlier yellow card – extended the lead to 31-10 in the third quarter, and Collins’ second 15 minutes from time sealed the win after a score from Tatsuya Miyakazi had threatened a Suntory comeback. The late tries from Shota Emi and Isaiah Punivai for Suntory were purely cosmetic.
Top of the table Saitama Wild Knights beat bottom team Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 33-24 despite resting several front-line players. The win guarantees Robbie Deans’ side a home semi-final against Yokohama Canon Eagles, who are through despite a last-second 35-31 defeat to Toyota Verblitz.
Razor Watch: A key All Black returns from injury as fresh prospects put their hand up for selection
Beauden Barrett steers Verblitz to victory
Sir Steven Hansen’s charges launched a 31-phase, four-minute attack after the hooter which went from side to side but was largely going nowhere, until All Black fly-half Beauden Barrett sprinkled some of his magic dust, spotting space in behind some tiring defenders, and backing Verblitz’s full-back Taichi Takahashi to win the race to his toe-poke through the defensive line.
Razor Watch: A key All Black returns from injury as fresh prospects put their hand up for selection
For the Eagles, the defeat was bitter, not least for 22-year-old rookie fly-half Yuragi Muto, who scored a try and kicked five from five, returning 16 points on his maiden league start and just his second appearance overall.
Elsewhere, a yellow card to Springbok lock Franco Mostert spoiled the good early work by his Mie Honda Heat team, who were 17-0 up on Kubota Spears when Mostert was dispatched to the bin for slowing the ball down. By the time he was back, the Spears were 21-17 up and went on to smash the Heat 61-24.
At the bottom, Black Rams Tokyo joined the Liners and Heat in the relegation battle with the Division Two teams despite a 31-24 win over Mistubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars.
Finally, Shizuoka BlueRevs crashed 63-19 at Kobelco Kobe Steelers, with Ardie Savea among the first-half try-scorers, while Brave Blossoms midfielder Timothy Lafaele and his international colleague Seungsin Lee also contributed.
Lafaele added a second after the break, and Brodie Retallick also got on the scoresheet as the points kept coming. Kobe eventually finished with nine tries to the BlueRevs’ three.
