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Watch: Shaun Stevenson scores double in Japan League one drubbing
By Henry Lee
The Chiefs might be two wins from two games in Super Rugby Pacific for 2025, but one-Test All Black Shaun Stevenson is enjoying a high-flying start for his Kubota Spears side in Japan League One, before he heads back to New Zealand for the second half of the Chiefs campaign.
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Stevenson’s Kubota Spears are sitting relatively comfortable in third place with 33 points from nine games, behind the Robbie Deans-coached Saitama Wild Knights at the top of the table, and Richie Mo’unga’s Toshiba Brave Lupus in second.
The Kubota Spears started the better in their round 10 matchup against the Shizuoka Blue Revs in Tokyo, scoring three tries to the Blue Revs one in the first half.
Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx was in the thick of the action, scoring one of his traditional long driving maul from just inside the Blue Revs 22.
The Blue Revs were still in the game at halftime, only trailing by 12 at the break, but it was in the second half where the Spears really got into their work, opening up the Blue Revs defence on countless occasions.
Stevenson was on the end of some powerful momentum from the Spears forwards, finding himself through a gap after a bullet pass from Shinobu Fujiwara squeezed him through an opening in the Blue Revs’ defense, allowing him to cross for his first try of the evening.
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Stevenson beat one defender for pace, before reaching out for the corner despite a last-ditch effort from former NRL player and fellow Kiwi Valynce Te Whare.
The Spears continued to pile on the points in the second half, running in three more tries before Stevenson was in the action once again.
Stevenson’s side successfully won the ball on their own lineout and attempted a swift move off the back of it, before spreading the ball wide deep in the Blue Revs’ 22. Stevenson then used his speed and skill to get past the covering defender to score in the corner.
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It was the last try of the match for the Spears in a dominant second-half performance, where they ran in seven tries to the Blue Revs one, winning 62-14.
The Kubota Spears will travel to take on the Toshiba Brave Lupus next weekend, where Stevenson will clash with overseas All Blacks first-five Richie Mo’unga.
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