Ex-All Blacks Richie Mo’unga and Shannon Frizell were once again pivotal for Toshiba Brave Lupus, who flattened Kobelco Kobe Steelers 73-28 in the Japan Rugby League One action.
Fellow former All Black Brodie Retallick missed the clash against the league leaders who threw down another statement of intent, crossing for 11 tries to maintain the pace at the top of the table.
Brave Lupus on the rampage
Kobe entered the fixture in good form having won three straight matches but quickly found themselves in a 21-0 hole after tries from Yuto Mori (2) and Yuhei Sugiyama with Takuro Matsunaga converting all three tries.
The Steelers finally found a reply in the 21st minute through Junta Hamano who scored on the half-hour mark too.
Quick scores from Jone Naikabula and Mori – who completed his hat-trick – saw Brave Lupus extend their lead to 33-14. Gerard Cowley-Tuioti scored Kobe’s third try before the break to close the gap in what promised to be a close encounter.
However, Brave Lupus cut loose in the second half with Matsunaga crossing the whitewash yet again while Frizell backed up his ten-minute hat-trick last week with a seven-minute brace this time around.
Remarkably, his two tries were separated by further scores for Michael Collins and Richie Mo’unga.
Kanta Matsunaga got one back for Kobe but it was Mori who had the last laugh, crossing for his fourth try to round off the scoring.
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Mo’unga masterclass
It was a standout shift overall from Mo’unga who assisted two tries to go with his own five-pointer.
He linked up wonderfully with Rob Thompson to set up Sugiyama’s try with a great offload from the deck while his brilliant hands created the space for Mori’s second try. His sensational break from inside his own 22 led to yet another try for his winger before half-time.
Mo’unga’s footwork and offloading ability paid dividends again for Toshiba as they marched upfield. They applied the pressure on Kobe, who had covered a kick-through rather well, but they did not protect the ball at the breakdown and Frizell pounced to win the turnover and charge over the line.
The ex-All Blacks pivot then ran a perfect support line on the shoulder of Naikabula to score in the 49th minute of the match and did the same shortly afterwards with Frizell linking up with the flanker again as he cantered over the line.
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ex-all-blacks-richie-mounga-and-shannon-frizell-steer-brave-lupus-to-thumping-victory-over-brodie-retallick-less-kobe
