Malcolm Marx and Richie Mo’unga will renew one of modern rugby’s most compelling rivalries this weekend.
The Kubota Spears and Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo collide in Japan Rugby League One’s stand-out fixture on Saturday.
The Springbok hooker and the All Blacks flyhalf first crossed paths years ago in Super Rugby with the Lions and Crusaders. While Marx has enjoyed the upper hand on the Test stage – lifting the World Cup twice with the Boks – Mo’unga has ruled the domestic landscape in Japan.
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The former Crusaders playmaker steered the Brave Lupus to a second successive League One title last season, edging Marx’s Spears 18-13 in the championship decider – and doing so with a broken hand.
This time around, the balance of power appears to have shifted. Kubota are unbeaten and will start favourites against a Brave Lupus side that has undergone significant change since last year’s final. A Spears victory would also open the door for Damian de Allende’s Saitama Wild Knights, who like Kubota, have made a perfect start to the campaign.
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The Wild Knights continue to cruise under new head coach Atsushi Kanazawa, who has seamlessly stepped into the role occupied by Robbie Deans for a decade. Kanazawa has inherited a juggernaut that has won 63 of 74 regular-season matches since League One’s inception.
Elsewhere, Cheslin Kolbe’s Tokyo Sungoliath face another stern test as they chase consistency after a difficult start. Currently fifth, Kosei Ono’s men sit five points clear of the playoff cut-off, but momentum remains fragile, as last season proved when it took five matches for their new coaching regime to register a first win.
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At the foot of the table, Franco Mostert’s Mie Honda Heat and Lukhanyo Am’s Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars are still searching for their first victories, while the Toyota Verblitz arrive in Shizuoka under mounting pressure following four heavy defeats.
Photo: Koki Nagahama/Getty Images
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