Watch: All Blacks great Retallick sparks comeback in dramatic Kobe win

Brodie Retallick received Player of the Match honours after Kobelco Kobe Steelers secured a last-gasp 22-20 win away to Tokyo Sungoliath. The legendary All Black was among the try-scorers, powering through a few defenders to cross for some crucial points.

Retallick was named best on ground but Seungsin Lee emerged as a hero for the Steelers, with the midfielder scoring the match-winning penalty inside the last few minutes. Kobe sits in second place on the Japan Rugby League One standings with one match still to play in round four.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup winner captained a star-studded side that featured reigning All Blacks Player of the Year Ardie Savea, All Blacks midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown, and former Highlanders co-captain Ash Dixon.

Springboks wing Cheslin Kolbe and former All Blacks captain Sam Cane headlined a Sungoliath outfit that looked to bounce back from a heavy 79-20 defeat to the Kubota Spears on December 27, which was their first loss of the 2025/26 season.

Kobe struck first through scrum-half Itsuki Kamimura in the eighth minute, with former Chiefs and Blues playmaker Bryn Gatland adding the extras. But it didn’t take long for the home side to hit back, with former Queensland Reds lock Harry Hockings scoring Tokyo’s first.

That was the start of Tokyo’s point-scoring spree, piling on 17 unanswered in a 14-minute span. Kenta Kobayashi touched down for the team’s second midway through the half, before Kaleb Trask added another five points off the goal-kicking tee.

10 points separated the two teams, the biggest lead of the match, before Retallick reduced Kobe’s deficit deep in the half. Kamimura cut out Dixon with a pass, finding the New Zealand-born lock less than five metres out from the try line.

Retallick got low immediately, bracing for tackle attempts from the three Tokyo defenders. Former Wallabies No. 8 Sean McMahon put an especially impressive shot on Retallick and almost stopped the All Blacks centurion short of five points.

With Retallick doing enough to find the chalk, the skipper cut Kobe’s deficit down to five with a conversion attempt still to come. Gatland reduced the difference even further with the successful shot off the kicking tee.

The match’s momentum swung almost drastically in Kobe’s favour just before the break, with Tokyo going down to 14 men after Cane was shown a yellow card. Tokyo took a slender advantage into the sheds but Kobe were well and truly in the fight.

Cane was shown a second yellow during the second term, before any other points were scored. Tokyo were actually the next team to strike, as Kazuki Ishida ran in a pivotal try with a little over 20 minutes left in the round four fixture.

Kazuma Ueda scored Kobe’s first try of the half, giving Lee the chance to give Kobe the lead for the first time since the 13^th minute. Lee missed the conversion attempt, but a grandstand finish awaited in this heavyweight Japan Rugby League One bout.

Tokyo held on to their one-point advantage for a while, but Lee made the most of one last chance to put Kobe in front. The centre sent the ball through the uprights with time almost up, before Kobe held on for a significnat win on the road.

Elsewhere in Japan Rugby League One’s first division, the Saitama Wild Knights maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 37-22 victory against the Shizuoka BlueRevs. The Wild Knights have retained their first-place position on the ladder for now.

Former Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley has helped guide the Kubota Spears to a winning 3-0 start to the season. The Spears will put their unbeaten record on the line when they face the winless MIE Honda Heat in the final game of the round on Sunday.