Mo’unga stars as Toshiba win back-to-back League One titles

Toshiba Brave Lupus made history as the first team to win back-to-back League One titles as they defeated Kubota Spears 18-13 at the National Stadium in Tokyo in front of 51,009 fans on Sunday.

Todd Blackadder’s table-topping Toshiba defeated Saitama Wild Knights a year ago to capture their first title since League One title and bested Kobe Steelers a week ago in th semi-final.

Frans Ludeke’s Kubota pipped Saitama to Japan Rugby’s top prize in 2023 and, after an injury-plagued campaign last season, are back to their best this term and came back to haunt Saitama in the semi-final last weekend.

Toshiba were missing Japan wing Jone Naikabula, the league’s top try scorer (15) for the second game in a row and were without influential ex-All Black Seta Tamanivalu.

Blackadder reshuffled his line-up with ex-Ospreys full-back Michael Collins starting on the right wing and Taichi Mano joining Rob Thompson in the midfield.

The defending champions struck  first when MVP Richie Mo'unga, who played despite a hand injury, evaded the clutches of Kubota’s veteran centre Harumichi Tatekawa to force his way over from five metres.

Mo’unga’s 12th try of the campaign, which came after eight minutes, signaled his intent as he closes in on a second MVP award.

Former Wallabies star Bernard Foley puts the 2023 champions on the board with a penalty after 17 minutes.

Mo'unga extended Toshiba's lead with a penalty after 22 minutes before Foley responded with his second after 32 minutes.

Toshiba led the tightly-contested final 8-6 at half-time.

Mo’unga turned provider as he made his team’s second try after his dummy lured in players and create the space for him to burst through and find wing Yuto Mori who surged home for his eighth try of the season after 46 minutes.

With Kubota chasing the game, at 15-6, Toshiba opted to go for the posts after being awarded yet another penalty and omnipresent Mo’unga extended their advantage to 12 points on the hour mark.

Ludeke’s side ramped up the pressure and a trademark line-out maul, which is a rich points scoring source for their powerful pack and especially for free-scoring Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, culminated with them losing possession five metres from the line.

The Funabashi-based finalists applier further pressure but were met with Toshiba’s teak-tough defence which is something they pride themselves on.

Kubota’s persistence finally paid off they manufactured their first try of the game after 72 minutes through Tatekawa. The move started with a tap and go from five metres out and quickly moved the ball through their backs for an overlap as the long-time Japan international dived over the line.

Foley kicked the conversion to cut Toshiba’s lead to five points with six minutes remaining.

Toshiba tactically wound down the clock to hold on for a history-making 18-13 victory.

Blackadder said: “I feel very proud of our effort and the whole squad. The performance typified the attitude and belief we have as a squad. We knew it was going to be a physical game.”

Ludeke said: “It was an amazing final. Congratulations to Toshiba. They deserved it. They’re a great team. We worked hard to get back into the game but we ran out of time.

“First half was 60% field possession to 40, we talked about it at half-time. We didn’t dominate the collisions ad we was off our feet. We was not accurate and that cost us. They stayed in our half and scored points.” 

Toshiba (1-15): Sena Kimura, Mamoru Harada,Taufa Latu, Jacob Pierce, Warner Dearns, Shannon Frizell, Takeshi Sasaki, Michael Leitch (c), Yuhei Sugiyama, Richie Mo'unga, Yuto Mori, Taichi Mano Rob Thompson Michael Collins Takuro Matsunaga

Replacements: Daigo Hashimoto, Teruo Makabe, Yuta Kokaji, Samuela Anise, Shohei Ito, Takahiro Ogawa, Toshiki Kuwayama, Shohei Toyoshima

Kubota (1-15): Yota Kamimori Malcolm Marx Opeti HeluRuan Botha David Bulbring Tyler PaulTakeo Suenaga Faulua Makisi (c)Shinobu Fujiwara Bernard FoleyKoga Nezuka Harumichi Tatekawa Rikus Pretorius Halatoa Vailea Atsushi Oshikawa

Replacements: Hayate Era, Kota Kaishi, Keijiro Tamefusa, Merwe Olivier, Finau Tupa, Bryn Hall, Yamada Hibiki, Lappies Labuschagné