It was a mixed bag in the Japan Rugby League One at the weekend for Richie Mo’unga as the All Blacks fly-half steered his side to victory despite a few errors.

The number 10 started Toshiba Brave Lupus’ clash against the Kubota Spears well, supporting a brilliant attacking line break from the restart.

Mo’unga’s messy start

However, when the ball came his way, he knocked it on with the try line begging and options either side of him if he were to be tackled.

He quickly recovered, though, running a sharp line off the shoulder of fellow All Black Shannon Frizzell and this time held onto the ball to score from close range giving the Brave Lupus the lead.

Frizell also saw a try-scoring opportunity go begging when he powered over from close range after a set move from a tap-and-go and Mo’unga soon looked to be in again after he brilliantly chipped over the Spears defence from a lineout.

Again, his handling let him down as he was unable to regather the bouncing ball and knocked it on with no one in front of him.

Eventually, the pressure told as Mo’unga threw a wide pass that led to his team’s second try as they moved 12-0 ahead.

The Spears would close the gap before the break through a penalty and a try but again it was Mo’unga’s men who started the second half better scoring through Sena Kimura.

Kubota would launch their comeback through Vaila Halatoa and Haruto Kida before Toshiba replied before the hour mark.

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Marx on the rampage

Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx then got involved with the try-scoring action as he latched onto a wide pass by ex-Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley and, with the option to go either side of Mo’unga, the front-rower chose the third choice and rampaged into the All Blacks’ fly-half before dotting down.

Foley’s ensuing conversion gave Kubota a slender 24-27 lead in the final knockings of the match before Mo’unga looked to have set up the winning score, but his pass was deemed forward. Luckily for him however, his former teammate Bryn Hall had made a high tackle giving the Brave Lupus a second shot at glory.

Up stepped Jone Naikabula, who made the most of the space out wide to land the killer blow with 10 minutes left on the clock as the defending champions held out for a 31-27 victory.

The result means that the Brave Lupus have closed the gap on the Kubota, who remain in second place on the overall log with the Panasonic Wild Knights still leading the way.

READ MORE: WATCH: All Blacks star Mark Telea’s ‘OUT OF THIS WORLD’ try to decide Super Rugby Pacific derby

Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/watch-richie-mounga-botches-two-clear-try-scoring-opportunities-before-malcolm-marx-runs-through-him