Watch: All Blacks great Retallick scores four tries in Kobe win

Kobelco Kobe Steelers captain Brodie Retallick continued to turn heads in Japan Rugby League One on Saturday, with the All Blacks great scoring four tries in a dominant 67-21 win over TJ Perenara’s BlackRams Tokyo.

Retallick’s name has been in RugbyPass headlines multiple times already this season, with the New Zealander standing out with a series of strong performances. The lock received Player of the Match honours last weekend in Kobe’s dramatic 22-20 win over Tokyo Sungoliath.

Kobe had won three of their four matches in 2025/26 before turning their focus to an important clash with the BlackRams, who had Perenara, former Wallaby Liam Gill, and former Queensland Reds fullback Isaac Lucas among their ranks.

New Zealand-born playmaker Bryn Gatland knocked over an early penalty goal to give Kobe a 3-0 lead before Gill reached out for a try in Tokyo’s favour. While it was still early days in the round five contest, Retallick’s effort in the 13^th minute helped swing the momentum in Kobe’s favour.

The Steelers set up an attacking maul five metres out from the try line, and before long, Retallick was getting pats on the back from teammates in Red. Kobe always looked like they’re going to score once they got going, powering their way to the try line for the go-ahead points.

Gatland added the extras, and then Inoke Burua crossed for the Steelers’ second try of the match midway through the half. It was 13-7 in favour of the Steelers before Retallick completed a double, benefiting from impressive lead-up play by Burua.

Burua made a break upfield before sending Tiennan Costley into space down the left edge, with the blindside flanker stopped within five metres of the line. Retallick got the ball a handful of phases later, breaking tackle attempts to touch down to the left of the uprights.

Lucas was shown a yellow card for a high try-saving tackle on Costley in the lead-up to that score and it didn’t take long for Kobe to make the most of their one-man advantage. Costley was again in the thick of the action, throwing a superb offload as the Steelers broke away.

Retallick worked hard off the ball, running a support line, and the New Zealander reaped the rewards of some impressive teamplay. Former Highlanders co-captain Ash Dixon was the first to celebrate with Retallick, who had completed a hat-trick inside 30 minutes.

Kazuma Ueda added to Kobe’s lead later in the half, with Gatland knocking over the conversion to give them a sizeable 34-7 advantage at the break. While the second half didn’t start the same way, it didn’t take the Steelers long to regain control.

PJ Latu reduced the deficit with a try five minutes into the second term, but Gatland effectively cancelled out that effort about 10 minutes later.  Gatland completed a double shortly after, before Samuel Waqabaca and Michal Little traded tries.

Seungsin Lee crossed for what ended up being the Steelers’ second last try of the afternoon, with Retallick marking a memorable performance with his fourth. Retallick was again in the right place at the right time, working hard in support and benefiting from those off-the-ball efforts.

Michael Littl passed the ball onto Retallick, who strolled into the in-goal for the five-pointer. That was Retallick’s seventh try of the season, with Kobe improving their season record to 4-1 – sitting in third place at the time of writing.