On Saturday, January 17, Round 5 of the NTT Japan Rugby League One was held. At Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, the two-time defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo faced Urayasu D-Rocks, who finished bottom last season but have already recorded three wins this year.

In the second half, D-Rocks closed the gap to just four points at 31–27, but Brave Lupus Tokyo eventually pulled away to secure a 38–27 victory, extending their winning streak to four matches.

After the game, we spoke with Brave Lupus Tokyo’s fly-half Richie Mo'unga, reflecting on the match, the resignation of Scott Robertos, and next week’s blockbuster clash against Kubota Spears Tokyo.

In-Game Adjustments and Defense

Yeah, I don’t think we put ourselves under too much pressure early on.I think we came back into the game pretty well.

But, at certain stages, especially defensively, we probably put ourselves under pressure that we didn’t need to.So, that’s something we need to work on. Ideally, we don’t want to be in a position where we’re always fighting back from pressure. We want to control that better.

How was your own play?

Yeah, to be honest, I haven’t really had a proper chance to think about it yet.I can’t remember everything clearly right now.But it was one of those games where there was a bit of open space.So, yeah, that allowed me to run the ball a bit more. Even though I was pretty tired, I knew that what I had to do was keep the ball in hand and, challenge more.

So, yeah, that was kind of the mindset.

Regarding the topic of the New Zealand Head Coach's resignation

Yeah, obviously it’s a difficult situation.And, especially for myself, where I stand here in Japan, I’m a spectator and a fan, you know.

And, me having a personal relationship with Razor, and, also a professional relationship, we’re very close.

So I’ve been thinking about him, the last couple of days, and, thinking about his family and, what they’ve had to endure, the last couple of days.

It can be pretty tough, you know, when your job is highly scrutinized and highly publicized.But, you know, he’s a man, and he’ll own it, and he’ll understand that that’s just, high professional rugby. That’s just high performance. And, that stuff happens. And it happens every day. Not just, uh, the coaches, but the players as well. So that’s all I really have to say.