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All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks stars shine in opening round of Top League
All Blacks star Beauden Barrett has kicked-off his Top League career in fine fashion, scoring a try and eight conversions to help guide Suntory Sungoliath to a 75-7 thumping of Mitsubishi Dynaboars in Minami-Ku.
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Barrett’s 21-point haul on debut was eclipsed by teammate and fellow Kiwi Tevita Li, though, with the former Blues and Highlanders wing notching five of his side’s 11 tries at Sagamihara Gion Stadium.
Li, who revealed his ambitions to play for Japan over the weekend, was the undoubted star of the show, stealing his fair share of the limelight off Barrett who finally made his long-awaited first appearance in the Top League.
The two-time World Rugby Player of the Year looked more than comfortable at first-five for Suntory, taking on the Mitsubishi defence multiple times and putting teammates outside of him into space regularly.
Many of Li’s tries wouldn’t have come without Barrett’s playmaking inside of him, but the former can now boast an incredible strike rate of 11 tries in just six matches since joining Suntory ahead of the 2020 Top League.
Former Wallabies midfielder Samu Kerevi also proved to be a menace for Suntory, as he bagged a try himself to pile misery on the likes of former All Blacks pair Jackson Hemopo and Colin Slade, who was on debut for Mitsubishi after joining from Pau.
Former Blues and Sunwolves midfielder grabbed the only try for the Dynaboars early in the first half, but it was one-way traffic from there as Suntory propelled themselves to top spot of the Red Conference after the opening round of the season.
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They are joined there by NTT Communications Shining Arcs, who were led to a 41-13 victory over Honda Heat by debutant halves pairing Greig Laidlaw and Fletcher Smith and former Wallabies flanker Liam Gill, and Kubota Spears.
Laidlaw, the ex-Scotland captain and British and Irish Lions halfback, nabbed a try and scored a total of 12 points, while Smith, formerly of the Highlanders and Hurricanes, also scored a try and two conversions.
Gill added a try himself to place the Shining Arcs just below Suntory on points difference.
Kubota, meanwhile, cruised to a 43-17 win over Munakata Sanix Blues in Narita. Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx and former Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley led the way with a collective total of three tries and 28 points.
In the same conference, Wallabies captain Michael Hooper got his Top League sabbatical to a winning start, coming off the bench for Toyota Verblitz to play an important role in closing out a 34-33 win over Toshiba Brave Lupus in Nagoya.
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The speed of the Top League games can be something else! https://t.co/5XDZZoauEF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 22, 2021
Hooper won his side an important turnover near the end of the match as they narrowly held off Toshiba from completing a mighty comeback, with the Brave Lupus trailing 27-7 early in the second half.
That match featured a raft of familiar names, as former All Blacks captain Kieran Read and Springboks fullback Willie le Roux started for Toyota, while Japan captain Michael Leitch, ex-All Blacks flanker Matt Todd and former All Blacks centre Seta Tamanivalu (on debut) all scored for Toshiba.
In the White Conference, juggernauts Panasonic Wild Knights and Yamaha Jubilo made early statements, picking up 55-14 and 52-17 victories over Ricoh Black Rams and Hino Red Dolphins, respectively.
Welsh midfielder Hadleigh Parkes and English lock George Kruis both made their debuts for Panasonic, with the latter joining Japanese World Cup star Kenki Fukuoa on the score sheet.
Former All Blacks halfback Agustine Pulu, meanwhile, scored two of Hino’s three tries as they crumbled in front of their home fans in Osaka.
Top League chairman Osamu Ota has joined other leading rugby bosses in throwing support behind the concept of a Club World Cup.https://t.co/XEqXGTEO6N
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 20, 2021
Elsewhere, current All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara got off to winning ways in his first appearance for NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes, scoring a try in the first competitive match of his sabbatical to help secure a 26-24 win over Jesse Kriel’s Canon Eagles.
In the only other match of the weekend, reigning champions Kobelco Steelers were given a good run for their money by NEC Green Rockets, who took the game to their All Blacks-laden opponents in a 47-38 defeat at Hanazono Rugby Stadium.
Former New Zealand international Ben Smith scored a try on debut from the right wing, as did Brave Blossoms stars Tim Lafaele and Isileli Nakajima, while lock Brodie Retallick was sent to the sin bin after half an hour of play.
No. 8 Lui Naeta and wing Rakuhei Yamashita both added a brace of tries to deny ex-England international and NEC playmaker Alex Goode victory in his first Top League showing.
NTT Communications Shining Arcs 41 (Tries to Fletcher Smith, Chang Yonghueng, Greig Laidlaw, Liam Gill, Atsushi Yumoto, Hiroyuki Mezaki; 2 conversions and penalty to Laidlaw, 2 conversions to Smith; yellow card to Jimmy Tupou)
Honda Heat 13 (Try to Masaki Fujisaki; conversion and 2 penalties to Pak Song-gi)
Toyota Verblitz 34 (Tries to Jamie Henry, Willie le Roux, Fetuani Lautaimi and Taichi Takahashi; 4 conversions and 2 penalties to Lionel Cronje)
Toshiba Brave Lupus 33 (Tries to Matt Todd, Seta Tamanivalu, Jack Stratton, Sione Lavemai and Michael Leitch; 2 conversions to Takahiro Ogawa, 2 conversions to Hayato Nakao)
Kobelco Steelers 47 (Tries to Isileli Nakajima, Lui Naeta (2), Tim Lafaele, Rakuhei Yamashita (2) and Ben Smith; 6 conversions to Hayden Parker; yellow card to Brodie Retallick)
NEC Green Rockets 38 (Tries to Ryoi Kamei (2), Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, Daiki Nakajima, Ryuta Iiyama and Rikiya Oishi; 4 conversions to Alex Goode)
Kubota Spears 43 (Tries to Bernard Foley, Takeo Suenaga, Malcolm Marx (2), Finau Tupa, Sione Teaupa; 5 conversions and penalty to Bernard Foley)
Munakata Sanix Blues 17 (Tries to Tim Bennetts, Yuta Imamura and Kohei Hamazato; conversion to Hiroshi Tashiro; yellow cards to Tashiro and Jarrad Adams)
Panasonic Wild Knights 55 (Tries to Shunsuke Nunomaki, Keisuke Uchida, Shota Fukui, Kenki Fukuoka, Itsuki Onishi and Hadleigh Parkes; 7 conversions and 2 penalties to Rikiya Matsuda)
Ricoh Black Rams 14 (2 tries to Keegan Faria; 2 conversions to Matt McGahan; yellow card to Hinata Takei)
Hino Red Dolphins 17 (Tries to Sho Kataoka and Augustine Pulu (2); conversion to Gillies Kaka; yellow card to Dinesvaran Krishnan)
Yamaha Jubilo 52 (Tries to Hironori Yatomi, Fred Fewtrell (3), Sam Greene and Malo Tuitama (3); 5 conversions to Greene, conversion to Syoh Kiyohara; yellow card to Uwe Helu)
Mitsubishi Dynaboars 7 (Try to Michael Little; conversion by Colin Slade)
Suntory Sungoliath 75 (Tries to Samu Kerevi, Yutaka Nagare, Tevita Li (5), Beauden Barrett, Tevita Tatafu, Shogo Nakano and Seiya Ozaki; 8 conversions to Barrett, 2 conversions to Hikaru Tamura)
Canon Eagles 24 (Tries to Hosea Saumaki, Jesse Kriel and Ryota Yasui; 2 conversions and penalty to Yu Tamura, conversion to Jumpei Ogura; yellow card to Jan de Klerk)
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 26 (Tries to TJ Perenara, Jiyoung Lee and Kouk Shigeno; conversion and 3 penalties to Ei Kawamukou)
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments