Toshiba Brave Lupus flanker Shannon Frizell will return to New Zealand this summer as he targets an All Blacks return which officially ends Tonga and Wales' hopes of an unlikely allegiance switch. Two-time League One winner Frizell, 32, has put pen to paper on a one-year deal and will be available to play for Tasman in the NPC - the country's round-robin National Provincial Championship - which starts in July. The 33-cap loose forward could still be fast-tracked into the All

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga believes that the misfiring back-to-back champions can turn their fortunes around and hold on to a top six play-off spot as they cling on to hopes of a League One ‘three-peat’. Two-time MVP Mo’unga, 31, saw his side slip to a sixth consecutive defeat when Honda Heat’s Japan-qualified utility-back Dawid Kellerman kicked an 82nd minute penalty for a dramatic 24-22 win at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on Sunday. “It's funny to s

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ standout centre Rob Thompson has been ruled out for six weeks after sustaining a broken finger in Saturday’s loss to Black Rams Tokyo in Kagoshima. Palmerston North product Thompson, 34, who has been playing the best rugby of his career this season, played the full 80 minutes in the back-to-back champions’ fourth consecutive loss. RugbyJP.com understands that the former Highlanders and Māori All Blacks midfielder will undergo surgery this week and then f

Japan teammates Warner Dearns and Mamoru Harada will go head-to-head on their respective Super Rugby debuts today as the Hurricanes host Moana Pasifika in Wellington. Wellington-born Brave Blossoms captain Dearns, 23, starts in the second-row as Clark Laidlaw’s Hurricanes open their campaign at home following a bye in round one. Harada, 26, comes into Pasifika’s 23 on the bench after being left out of their squad which stunned Fijian Drua on the road in Lautoka. The former To

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ Richie Mo’unga scored an injury-time match-winning try to hand unbeaten leaders Kubota Spears their first loss of the campaign. The hotly-anticipated rematch of last year’s final delivered a tightly-contested, high-quality game which was a great advert for Japan Rugby League One. Todd Blackadder’s back-to-back champions Toshiba, who were inspired to their second consecutive title last year by Player of The Match Mo’unga against Kubota, produced their best

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga has commented for the first time on his former coach Scott Robertson’s departure from the All Blacks. Two-time League One winner Mo’unga, 31, won seven Super Rugby titles under Robertson with the Crusaders and is two months into his third and last season in Japan. The mercurial playmaker and back-to-back MVP inked a deal with New Zealand Rugby in October return home on an 18-month contract this summer, commencing in July 2026 and ru

Toshiba Brave Lupus flanker Shannon Frizell broke his hand in the opening round loss to Saitama Wild Knights in December, RugbyJP.com can exclusively reveal. The 31-year-old All Black played the full 80 minutes as the champions were routed 46-0 by the league’s inaugural winners on 14 December. The Fuchu outfit only discovered the true severity of his injury post-match. Tonga-born Frizell is remaining in Japan for treatment and will be aiming to return in time for the play-of

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ back-to-back MVP Richie Mo’unga said Sunday’s 46-0 whitewash by rivals Saitama Wild Knights was his worst defeat since he was playing under 8s rugby. Mo’unga, 31, is aiming to sign off from Toshiba this season by winning a third consecutive League One title but their ‘three-peat’ ambitions got off to a humiliating start as they were routed by inaugural champions Saitama Wild Knights. The manner of the defeat - Toshiba’s worst in the history of League One,

The fifth Japan Rugby League One season kicks off next week with a wave of new and returning stars such as Semi Radradra, Manie Libbok and Ardie Savea set to light up the competition. Fiji’s Olympic sevens champion Radradra is a new signing for title contenders Shizuoka Blue Revs while World Cup winner and Springboks star Libbok has joined second division side Kintetsu Liners. New Zealand’s 2023 World Player of The Year Savea has returned for a second spell at star-laden Kobe

Toshiba Brave Lupus superstar Richie Mo’unga returned to action on Saturday as the back-to-back League One champions defeated Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 36-33 in their latest pre-season game in Fuchu. Two-time MVP winner Mo’unga, 31, who will return to New Zealand next summer, was making his first appearance since his starring role in the League One final win against Kubota Spears in June. “It felt awesome to be back playing, it’s been five months and nothing can prepare

Toshiba Brave Lupus superstar Richie Mo’unga returns to action on Saturday for the first time since steering his side to back-to-back League One titles in June.  Mo’unga, 31, opened the scoring after five minutes with a sublime solo effort and added eight points from his boot to inspire the Fuchu team to an 18-13 win over Kubota Spears, despite playing with a broken hand.  The 2023 World Cup runner-up, who won the Japan Rugby League One MVP award for the second season in a ro

Toshiba Brave Lupus’ head coach Todd Blackadder will manage talismanic captain Michael Leitch’s minutes next season after the Japan stalwart was an ever-present last term.  The 37-year-old was an integral player as the Fuchu side retained their League One crown by conquering Malcolm Marx and Bernard Foley’s Kubota Spears 18-13 with player of the match Richie Mo’unga putting on a masterclass.   Leitch, who led Japan to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in 2019 for the first t

Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo’unga was approached by Tonga Rugby Union about a potential allegiance switch before he inked a new deal with New Zealand Rugby, RugbyJP.com can reveal. Back-to-back League One and MVP winner Mo’unga, 31, who last represented the All Blacks in the World Cup final loss to South Africa in 2023, was the subject of intense interest from Tonga, as RugbyJP.com revealed in February. RugbyJP.com © The mercurial seven-time Super Rugby winner tu

Fijiana starlet Josifini Neihamu has made her mark for her country at the World Cup and has followed in her brothers' footsteps by...

Japan head coach Eddie Jones has revealed that Brave Blossoms great Michael Leitch nominated history-making Warner Dearns to captain his...

Kubota Spears scrum-half Bryn Hall has tipped Toshiba Brave Lupus fly-half Richie Mo-unga to return to Japan after his third tilt at a...

Toshiba Brave Lupus centre and ex-All Black Seta Tamanivalu has been named in Fiji’s 30-man squad for the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup. The...

Former Wallabies stars Will Genia and Quade Cooper will make their coaching bow for Hanazono Kintetsu Liners against Richie Mo’unga’s...

Toshiba Brave Lupus' double League One winner and back-to-back MVP Richie Mo’unga will return to New Zealand in 2026 after completing his...

Champions Toshiba are aiming to go back-back-to-back