Mo'unga wins battle of All Black No 10s as Barrett injured in Japan
The anticipated clash between rival All Blacks No 10s lasted only 16 minutes before Beauden Barrett left the field, leaving countryman Richie Mo’unga to steer Brave Lupus to victory.
It was the boot of Mo’unga that powered Brave Lupus with three penalties building a 16-7 lead over Verblitz 51 minutes into play.
The All Black first five starred with ball-in-hand making three line breaks, on one occasion escaping the rush of Aaron Smith to rip off a monster 70 metre break which led to a penalty goal.
All Blacks loose forward Shannon Frizell scored his sixth try which put the game beyond two scores at 21-12, before a final Mo’unga break and try assist iced the game.
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo retained their unbeaten record by beating Toyota Verblitz 28-12. Frizell is the competition joint leading try-scorer with six.
In other action, veteran former Wallaby halfback Will Genia was sensationally sent off for the first time in his distinguished 18-year career.
Genia received two yellow-cards in nine minutes for professional fouls as his Hanazono Kintetsu Liners suffered a heavy 50-12 loss to Shizuoka Blue Revs on Saturday.
The 36-year-old’s dismissal, which came 14 minutes into the second half, didn’t have a major impact on the outcome as winless Kintetsu trailed 36-12 at the time against a Blue Revs side who have lost their skipper, Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith, for the season after he sustained an adductor tendon injury.
Smith is one of three South Africans currently on the injured list in Japan, with halfback Faf de Klerk and centre Jesse Kriel also out long term.
De Klerk and Kriel’s Yokohama Canon Eagles were shot down by Kobelco Kobe Eagles, losing 31-27 as ex-Chiefs five-eighth Bryn Gatland scored 21 points for the winners.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie’s side, lifting them to seventh on the table.
Kobe are one place below Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay after the defending champions prevailed 18-17 in a thrilling finish against a Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo outfit coached by Aussie Peter Hewat.
The Black Rams looked to have won the game when a penalty try in the last minute gave them a two-point lead, but the game continued.
This allowed Kubota to steal it when South African-born Gerhard van den Heever, who was deputising for injured Wallaby Bernard Foley, kicked the winning penalty goal.
Former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans’ Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights are top of the championship table, with Brave Lupus two points behind.
The league now pauses for two weeks to cater for Cross Border rugby, where the Super Rugby Pacific’s Blues will play Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Yokohama Canon Eagles, while the Chiefs will face Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments