The China Mail - Mo'unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title

The fly-half has finished every season in top-level domestic rugby since 2017 with a winner's medal and he picked up another as Toshiba beat Kubota Spears 18-13 in the Japan Rugby League One final.

He had to do it the hard way after breaking his right hand in the closing stages of last week's semi-final win, with coach Todd Blackadder expecting his star man was "70-30" to miss the final.

Mo'unga said he spent three days in an oxygen chamber in the build-up to the game and "knew all along that I was going to play".

"I knew it wasn't impossible to play this weekend, and obviously a final, it's a no-brainer really," said the 31-year-old.

"You want to give yourself the best chance to be part of something special."

Mo'unga joined Toshiba on a three-year deal after helping New Zealand reach the 2023 World Cup final, where they lost to South Africa.

He gave another playmaking masterclass in front of more than 50,000 fans at Tokyo's National Stadium.

Mo'unga scored his team's first try with less than 10 minutes on the clock and set up their second with a crafty dummy early in the second half.

He also scored eight points with his boot.

Mo'unga won seven Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders in New Zealand and said he was "so grateful to be part of winning teams".

"I try to tell some of the boys in our team not to take this moment for granted because a lot of people don't win, and a lot of people don't win back to back," he said.

- 'Ultimate team man' -

Mo'unga jinked through the opposition defence to open the scoring in the eighth minute.

He also started the second half strongly, taking out a defender with a dummy before slipping the ball to Yuto Mori for Toshiba's second try.

Mo'unga said the pain in his hand made "things just a little bit harder" but did not affect his game.

"Once you get out there, you just play rugby and try not to think about it too much," he said.

Toshiba's victory denied Kubota's Australian fly-half Bernard Foley and South African hooker Malcolm Marx a second title in Japan.

Marx said he was not aware that Mo'unga was carrying an injury.

"He's a great player, he showed that how he performed today even with a broken hand," said Marx.

"It shows his resilience."

Toshiba finished the regular season in first place, which earned them a bye into the play-off semi-finals.

Third-placed Kubota had to come through a quarter-final and were looking to regain the title that they won in 2023.

Toshiba coach Blackadder hailed Mo'unga's influence on his side, calling him the "ultimate team man".

"At the start of the week, we weren't sure," he said of Mo'unga's injury.

"It was 70-30 that he wouldn't be available and he just found a way."

K.Lam--ThChM