Rugby: Brave Lupus outlast Spears for back-to-back League One titles
KYODO NEWS - 19 hours ago - 19:57 | Sports, Rugby, All
Former All Black star Richie Mo'unga led Brave Lupus Tokyo to back-to-back Japan Rugby League One titles in a tightly fought 18-13 win against the Kubota Spears in Sunday's championship decider.
The 31-year-old flyhalf scored the opening try and set up his team's second, while adding eight points with the boot in front of 51,009 at Tokyo's National Stadium.
Brave Lupus head coach Todd Blackadder revealed after the game that Mo'unga had delivered his man-of-the-match performance with a fractured hand that prevented him training throughout the preceding week.
"At the start of the week we weren't sure (if he could play)," Blackadder said. "He turned up and played very well and you wouldn't have known that he had a fractured hand. That just shows how committed he is to this team and what a player he is."
Blackadder's men went into the final as favorites after finishing the regular season on top of the table and cruising past the Kobe Steelers in last weekend's semifinals.
As third-place finishers, head coach Frans Ludeke's Spears were coming off an extra round of playoff rugby, followed by a grueling semifinal win against the Saitama Wild Knights.
Mo'unga opened the scoring in the eighth minute, creating space with a clever dummy and stepping across in the corner. The playmaking maestro missed the conversion, allowing Kubota to cut the lead to a single kick on Bernard Foley's penalty nine minutes later.
Another penalty each from Mo'unga and Foley saw Brave Lupus lead 8-6 at the break after a defensive arm wrestle in the first half.
Brave Lupus ran in their second try from a scrum inside their own half, with Mo'unga breaking the line and sending over center Yuto Mori, then kicking the extras for a 15-6 lead in the 48th minute.
Kubota's defense held firm as winger Halatoa Vailea sat in the sin bin, before veteran center Harumichi Tatekawa scored the first try for the 2022-2023 champions, cutting the lead to five points at 18-13 with Foley's conversion in the 73rd minute.
Brave Lupus were able to soak up the defensive pressure in the final minutes under dark and cloudy skies before heavy rain began soaking the Tokyo Olympic venue.
Mo'unga said preparing for the match had been a "big challenge" because of his injury, sustained late in the semi against Kobe, but playing in the final was a "no-brainer."
"I think you take away the injury, and my mindset is to compete and to try and win, and try to have influence, and that's what I knew I had to do today," he said.
Related coverage:
Japan Rugby League One to give domestic players more time on pitch
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Olympic leader Bach's $350,000 pay package in 2024 trails far behind soccer's elected leaders
FILE - IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File) By GRAHAM DUNBAR The International Olympic Committee paid its president Thomas Bach $350,000 in income and expenses in 2024, his final full year in office. The sum included a salary-like payment — or 'indemnity' in Olympic language — of 275,000 euros ($317,000), according to its annual report Friday. That is a relatively small figure compared to soccer bodies that, like the IOC, are based in Switzerland and count annual revenue in billions. Bach on Monday will formally hand over to president-elect Kirsty Coventry, who will start an eight-year initial term as the Olympic body's first female leader, and first from Africa. The IOC has classed the 71-year-old Bach as a volunteer on a full-time executive mission who 'should not have to finance activities related to his function from his personal savings.' Bach's earnings were less than 10% of what soccer gives its top elected officials. FIFA paid its president Gianni Infantino $5.2 million in taxable salary and bonus last year, plus other expenses. He is also among the 109 IOC members and can claim $7,000 each year for office costs and $450 daily allowance when on Olympic business. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin received almost $4.3 million in taxable income last year, including $300,000 from FIFA as one of its vice presidents. It is unclear if the 41-year-old Coventry will be a salaried president of the IOC instead of officially a volunteer. The two-time Olympic champion in swimming left her job as sports minister of Zimbabwe after winning the seven-candidate IOC election in March. The presidential indemnity likely will be reviewed later this year, the IOC said Friday. Bach's annual payment has been decided by the IOC's ethics commission on the stated principle 'the president should not financially benefit from his position.' The German lawyer held a series of business consultancies and board of director seats before being elected in 2013 to lead the IOC. The IOC paid Bach 225,000 euros ($259,000) in 2020. It rose to 275,000 euros ($317,000) in the year of his re-election, 2021, then was frozen for the rest of his second term of four years until reaching the maximum 12 years in office. International sports bodies have typically published details of leadership pay as part of governance reforms, particularly after corruption scandals in soccer. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
Figure skating: 3-time world champ Sakamoto to retire after Olympics
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March. Sakamoto revealed her plan at the opening ceremony for a new skating rink in her home city of Kobe in western Japan. "I feel like I have less than a year left," she said. "I'll be 29 at the following Olympics (in 2030), which is out of the question. I'll try to bring things to a close the year I turn 26." Sakamoto made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She won her fourth straight Japanese championship, and fifth overall, last December.
Kyodo News
2 days ago
- Kyodo News
3-time figure skating world champ Kaori Sakamoto to retire after Olympics
KYODO NEWS - 6 minutes ago - 13:56 | Sports, All Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March. Sakamoto revealed her plan at the opening ceremony for a new skating rink in her home city of Kobe in western Japan. "I feel like I have less than a year left," she said. "I'll be 29 at the following Olympics (in 2030), which is out of the question. I'll try to bring things to a close the year I turn 26." Sakamoto made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She won her fourth straight Japanese championship, and fifth overall, last December. Related coverage: Figure skating: Retired star Mao Asada to open coaching academy Figure skating: Teen star Nishino signals big future with quad jumps FEATURE: Cool moves at any age: Japan's figure skating scene grows up
