Richie Mo’unga wonder try in vain as Wild Knights win top-of-the-table clash
Richie Mo'unga on a run for Toshiba Brave Lupus against Saitama Wild Knights.
The Saitama Wild Knights are clear at the summit of the Japan Rugby League One after winning their top-of-the-table clash with Toshiba Brave Lupus 36-24 on Sunday, despite Richie Mo’unga’s best efforts for the visitors.
Mo’unga opened the scoring with an extraordinary try with just 35 seconds on the clock, picking up a loose exit kick and tearing through the chasing line for a 60-metre solo score.
But within six minutes, the home side had restored parity through more conventional means, with Lachlan Boshier plunging over from a metre out and the conversion tying the game at 7-7.
Mo’unga’s side beaten
The rest of the first half belonged to kickers, with the four penalties from Rikiya Matsuda to the one from All Blacks star Mo’unga reflecting the Knights’ developing superiority.
That dominance was confirmed – and the game all but ended as a contest – with two quick tries at the start of the second half. The first, from wing Tomoki Osada, was hotly-disputed by the visitors, who thought that there should have been a penalty for holding on some phases before.
After full-back Kyohei Yamasawa had scored the second, a late tackle by Lupus’ centre Seta Tamanivalu earned him a yellow card and the game was up. Tries from Warner Dearns and Taufa Latu threatened a brief sensational comeback, but Mark Abbott’s coup de grace both made the game safe and secured the bonus point for the Wild Knights, who are now the only unbeaten team in Japan‘s top club league.
Like a symphony … Richie Mo’unga front and center 🔥 #LeagueOne pic.twitter.com/fYENuAedsV
— Darren (@SaffasRugby) March 11, 2024
Tokyo Sungoliath and Kobelco Kobe Steelers are now within touching distance of the Brave Lupus in third and fourth respectively after registering comfortable wins over the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners and Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynboars.
Sungoliath had the bonus point wrapped up by half-time against the Liners, with only Mikiya Takamoto’s off-day with the boot – he landed one from four conversions – keeping the score down to 22-7.
Will Genia brought the Liners back into contention with a try in the second half, but Sungoliath saw the game out comfortably with tries from Taiga Ozaki and Joe Kamana helping the home side to a 36-14 win.
The Steelers were just as confident at the Dynaboars, with Bryn Gatland in fine form once again. Gatland scored one of five tries and converted three of them in a dominant first half for the visitors, at the end of which they led 31-7. The second half followed a similar pattern to that of the Sungoliath win as well, with Jackson Hemopo scoring to give the Dynaboars a bit of momentum but then two late tries from Daiki Nakajima and Timothy Lafaele finished the game off.
The Yokohama Canon Eagles are also in contention for the top three after a 34-17 win over the Shizuoka BlueRevs. This game was tighter. Only seven points separated the teams at the break after tries from the Eagles’ Yusuke Kajimur and Yu Tamura answered the second-minute score from the BlueRevs’ Malo Tuitama.
But the home side pulled clear after the break in an entertaining second half, with tries from Kobus van Dyk and Masayoshi Takezawa notching the bonus point. Four tries after that were shared equally between the teams as the home side’s win never looked in doubt.
In the lower reaches of the table, Mie Honda Heat’s fate looks sealed after they fell to a 24-14 defeat at home to Black Rams Tokyo, who picked up only their second win of the season.
Nathan Hughes scores
The visitors led four tries to one at the break, with Nathan Hughes among the scorers, and the second half was a bit of a non-event, with only Kei Toma’s late try breaking the deadlock.
The weekend’s closest game was also between the two teams now bang in the middle of the table, with Toyota Verblitz edging Kubota Spears 31-27 in Osaka. The game was balanced until the hour mark, when Taichi Takahashi’s score and Beauden Barrett’s conversion took the visitors 28-13 clear and wrapped up the bonus point.
Barrett landed five from five on the day while kicking counterpart Yuhei Shimada could only slot three from his five, which ended up the overall difference between the teams. Verblitz are sixth in the table, the Spears seventh.
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