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Watch: Richie Mo'unga scores instinctive try in narrow loss to Honda Heat
By Henry Lee
56-Test All Black first-five Richie Mo’unga has shown his class in the round eight Japan Rugby League One fixture against Mie Honda Heat, where his Toshiba Brave Lupus side fell just short, 44-38.
The Brave Lupus currently sit in a comfortable position in fourth on the table, eight points in front of Tokyo Sungoliath, who are in fifth.
Saitama Wild Knights are top of the table, with Shaun Stevenson’s Kubota Spears just behind them, while Ardie Savea, Brodie Retallick, and Anton Lienert-Brown’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers are in third place.
At the Tochigi Green Stadium in Utsunomiya, Mo’unga’s Brave Lupus side were on the back foot early, with Argentinian stalwart Pablo Matera opening the scoring for the Mie Honda Heat.
Both teams traded tries shortly after, before the Honda Heat started to run away with proceedings through Manu Akauola and Ben Paltridge.
Despite the home side leading 29-7 after 26 minutes, Mo’unga took matters into his own hands to try and swing the momentum back in the Brave Lupus’ favour.
The away side broke the Honda Heat defence in midfield, before Michael Leitch was first to the breakdown just inside the home side’s 22.
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Leitch quickly shifted the ball onto Mo’unga, who stepped off his left foot and raced through a gap to score an important try in the 27th minute.
The All Black first-five was clinical when given the chance, as he proved too hard to stop close to the line.
The Honda Heat went into halftime leading 34-21, before some quick points after halftime put the game out of reach for Mo’unga’s side, even with a late flurry of tries in the final ten minutes.
In other Japan Rugby League One action, Brodie Retallick has continued his fine run of try-scoring form for the Kobe Steelers against the Shizuoka Blue Revs.
The Kobe Steelers put 60 points on the Blue Revs at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Kobe, with 59 of the 105 points in the game being scored in the first 40 minutes.
There were a number of Kiwis involved in the round eight matchup, with Valynce Te Whare, Charles Piatau, Ardie Savea, Anton Lienert-Brown, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Bryn Gatland, and Justin Sangster all part of the match day squads.
Retallick’s try came in the 17th minute, receiving a pass from his halfback only a couple of meters short of the line.
The former All Black lock powered through a number of tackles with a teammate by his side, before reaching out and planting the ball down acrobatically.
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