Toyota Verblitz’s All Blacks ace Beauden Barrett signed off from League One with a 45-18 victory over a stubborn Black Rams Tokyo side at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
All eyes were on the departing two-time World Player of the Year Barrett, who was unlucky to see two tries disallowed, while it was his long-time All Blacks half-back partner Aaron Smith who starred off the bench for the visitors in head coach Ben Herring's final game in charge.
Toyota’s disappointing campaign fittingly ended in Tokyo at the stadium where Barrett played the majority of his rugby in his first stint in Japan for Suntory Sungoliath in the final season of the Top League in 2021.
Barrett, who will be available for the All Blacks this summer ahead of re-joining the Blues next season, helped to attract 16,751 fans to the sun-soaked spiritual home of rugby in Tokyo which has the Japan Rugby Union head office on the same site.
The Black Rams rested their key players such as Amato Fakatava, Isaac Lucas, Matt McGahan and hulking Fijian wing Netani Vakayalia with one eye on their relegation-promotion games against Wayne Pivac’s division two runners-up NEC Green Rockets.
Toyota’s abundance of playing riches has led many to question how they were unable to make a push for the play-offs and a hard-working Black Rams side threatened to upstage Barrett, former World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, captain Kazuki Himeno and in-form win Taichi Takahashi.
Right wing Yuichiro Wada struck first for the visitors after just two minutes minutes following quick hands and quick-thinking from outgoing Japan-qualified centre Charlie Lawrence.
Former Japan international Amanaki Taiyo Lotoahea charged past Barrett and over the try line five minutes later to bring the Rams level.
The 34-year-old centre, who has represented Japan in sevens and 15-a-side, was joined in the Rams’ starting line-up by his older brother Pohiva Yamato Lotoahea, 35, who was celebrating his 100th appearance for the club.
Veteran scrum-half Kaito Shigeno restored Toyota’s lead five minutes before the break after being played in by Toyota-born wing Viliame Tuidraki whose father Patiliai Tuidraki played for Japan at the 1999 World Cup in Wales.
Toyota made wholesale changes at half-time including Aaron Smith coming to a huge ovation for Shigeno while Pieter-Steph Du Toit made way for Ryusei Koike.
Former England international Nathan Hughes, who at 32 still hopes to represent the country of his birth, Fiji, proved to be a constant menace for the hosts up-front and nudged his team in front 12 minutes into the second half.
The ex-Wasps number eight couldn’t be stopped from a rolling lineout maul as the lowly Rams threatened to upset Barrett’s Japan farewell party.
Smith injected some much-needed dynamism for Toyota as Japan wing-turned-centre Siosaia Fifita burst clear and popped up the ball to prop Genki Sudo five metres from try line and the grateful fan favourite clattered his way over the line.
New Zealand’s legendary half-back pairing of Smith and Barrett combined to extend their lead.
Replacement flanker Masato Furukawa was the benefactor after Smith found Barrett whose pinpoint grubber kick put through the Fukuoka native who has three caps for Japan.
Furukawa grabbed his second try after an assist from Smith who played a miss-pass at speed into his hands on the left flank and the 24-year-old launched into the air to beat the on-rushing defender.
Gamechanger Smith got in on the scoring act after a quick tap-and-go from captain Himeno led to replacement lock Daichi Akiyama being stopped just short of the try line.
A screaming Smith alerted the once-capped Brave Blossom to his availability and gratefully received the ball to dive over the line and seal the game.
The All Blacks legend scored his second try with three minutes remaining after a break from Koike and the evergreen scrum-half was the furthest Toyota player forward in support and strolled over the line.
Hughes scored an injury-time consolation try with a pick-up and go from the base of the ruck which caught Toyota off-guard.
Departing Barrett said: “I want to thank the Verblitz fans for your incredible support. Your warm words always motivated me to give my all on the field. Wearing the Verblitz jersey was an amazing experience.”
The Rams will now face the Rockets in a relegation-promotion play-off which will be played over two legs on on 18 and 25 May.
Black Rams (1-15): Kosei Nakamura, Masashi Onishi, Paddy Ryan, Michael Stolberg, Pohiva Yamato Lotoahea, Otoya Kihara, Shuhei Matsuhashi ©, Nathan Hughes, Toshiya Takahashi, Nakakusu Ichigo, Tomoya Yamamura, Yuki Ikeda, Amanaki Lotoahea, Yuta Kurihara, Semisi Tupou
Replacements: Kazuhiro Koike, Taishi Tsumura, Shohei Oyama, Reijiro Yamamoto, Shu Yamamoto, Takanobu Minami, Kotaro Ito, Hadleigh Parkes
Toyota (1-15): Gaku Shimizu, Ryusei Kato, Yusuke Kizu, Josh Dickson, Isaiah Mapusua, William Tupou, Kazuki Himeno ©, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kaito Shigeno, Beauden Barrett, Viliame Tuidraki, Charlie Lawrence, Siosaia Fifita, Yuichiro Wada, Taichi Takahashi
Replacements: Ryuhei Arita, Shogo Miura, Genki Sudo, Daichi Akiyama, Ryusei Koike, Aaron Smith, Dick Wilson, Masato Furukawa Pictures Courtesy of Toyota Verblitz
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