All Black Richie Mo'unga makes history with title win in Japan

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo have held off a fast-finishing Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 18-13 in today’s decider to become the first side to win two titles in Japan Rugby League One.

Led by another accomplished performance from All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo’unga, who largely controlled proceedings, Brave Lupus dominated much of the game but were unable to completely break free thanks to a resolute Spears’ defence.

This best manifested itself during the 10-minute second-half period when the Spears were down to 14-men after winger Halatoa Vailea was yellow carded for a professional foul but scrambled well to hold Brave Lupus scoreless.

Mo’unga, who has now won two League One titles to sit alongside the seven he has gathered in Super Rugby with the Crusaders, scored the game’s first try.

It was the 31-year-old’s 11th try of the season, which included one against the Spears during Toshiba’s 31-27 win earlier in the season.

The try gave Brave Lupus the early front-running.

It was a position that they never surrendered.

While he couldn’t convert, a penalty goal allowed his side to turn 8-6 in front, after his Wallabies and Spears counterpart Bernard Foley kicked of both his first-half penalty goal attempts to keep the league’s 2022-23 champions in touch.

Having recorded the opening try in the eighth minute of the first half, Brave Lupus took just seven minutes in the second, as winger Yuto Mori scored in the championship game for the second year in a row.

Something of a nemesis for Kubota, the 26-year-old had also scored against Kubota during Toshiba’s 31-27 win earlier in the season after scoring twice against them when the teams clashed last year.

The try gave Brave Lupus a nine-point break, which they extended to 12 with Mo’unga’s second penalty of the afternoon, 19 minutes before the finish.

It looked enough but a Spears outfit that had lost just twice on their way to the final were always going to rally, which South African coach Frans Ludeke’s men duly did, closing the gap to within a scoring play when Harumichi Takekawa crossed for their only try of the afternoon.

The 35-year-old midfielder, who had led Kubota when the club won its maiden Japanese title two years ago, scored in the 72nd minute, setting up a nervous finish, but led by their experienced fly-half, alongside lion-hearted skipper Michael Leitch, Brave Lupus held firm during the remaining time with their lead intact.

Leitch has been rejuvenated in the last two seasons after being reinstalled as Brave Lupus captain by coach Todd Blackadder, with the 36-year-old back-rower finishing the season having made more tackles than anyone else.

The crowd for the final at Tokyo’s National Stadium exceeded 50,000 for the second year running, with 50,009 spectators in attendance.

Toshiba’s five-point win continued the trend of close finishes in the final since the nationwide Japanese league was reformatted as League One, following on from the six, two, and four point margins between the protagonists in the competition’s first three years.

The Japanese season now moves into its international phase, with the Brave Blossoms welcoming a near full-strength Wales for the first of two Tests at Kitakyushu on July 5.

This follows the visit of the Maori All Blacks, who play a Japan XV in Tokyo later this month.