Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated previously unbeaten Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights 24-20 to win League One at the National Stadium in front of 56,486 fans in Tokyo on Sunday.
Panasonic finished the regular season unbeaten with 16 wins in addition to an impressive victory over Super Rugby Pacific outfit the Chiefs in the Cross Border series in February.
Robbie Deans’ side, who beat a spirited Yokohama Canon Eagles side in the semi-finals a week ago, featured in their third consecutive League One final.
Todd Blackadder’s Toshiba tasted defeat only once in the regular season and that was a narrow loss to Panasonic away in Saitama in March.
The two top sides fittingly met in the final and the game more than lived up to the high expectations with a global audience tuning into the biggest club rugby game in Japanese history.
Panasonic fly-half Rikiya Matsuda slotted two early conversions in a nervy opening twenty minutes.
Livewire wing Jone Naikabula, who is being courted by a host of international clubs, crossed first for Toshiba and Richie Mo'unga, who turned 30 on Saturday, added the extra two points to give his team the lead for the first time.
Mo'unga, who has a three-year contract with Toshiba, kicked a penalty to send his team in ahead 10-6 at the break.
Panasonic changed their entire front row at the break with Japan-qualified prop Daniel Perez making way for the rugged Craig Millar while outgoing Japanese legend Shota Horie came on for his last game in place of captain and hooker Atsushi Sakate.
Long-time Japan international Asaeli Ai Valu replaced Taiki Fujii.
Fiji-born wing Naikabula crossed for a second time with a typically dynamic run five minutes after the restart and Mo'unga added the conversion to extend their lead to 11 points.
Powerful flanker Ben Gunter, who has represented Japan since 2021, engineered a comeback for the Kumagaya-based side as he surged over the line from close range.
Matsuda, who will face competition for the Brave Blossoms 10 jersey this summer from young Suntory Sugoliath sensation Mikiya Takamoto, sent over the conversion to cut Toshiba’s lead to four points.
Probing scrum-half Taiki Koyama put Panasonic back in front with his sixth try of the season.
The calm and collected Matsuda slotted the conversion to hand the inaugural League One champions a three-point lead at 20-17 with 10 minutes remaining.
Yuto Mori, who replaced left wing Atsuki Kuwayama, crossed after 74 minutes to wrestle the game back in the favour of Toshiba.
Mo'unga stepped up and effortlessly slotted the conversion but there was still time for plenty of drama to unfold in the last five minutes.
With Toshiba leading 24-20 in the 79th minute, Panasonic attacked and Horie passed the ball to Australian star Marika Koroibete on the left wing and four phases later replacement wing Tomoki Osada sprinted over the line after being played in by full-back Takuya Yamasawa.
After a lengthy review from the TMO, the try was ruled out because of a forward pass by the unfortunate Horie.
Toshiba Brave Lupus celebrated a hard-fought 24-20 victory and their first major success since winning League One’s predecessor, the Top League, in 2011.
Japan’s Jone Naikabula won the player of the match.
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