Wild Knights and Brave Lupus to face off in Japan Rugby League One final

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Japan Rugby League One final will be a showdown between coaches who come from the same breeding ground of New Zealand rugby and who have taken similar paths to Sunday’s showdown in Tokyo.

Robbie Deans will coach series winners Saitama Wild Knights while Todd Blackadder will guide Brave Lupus Tokyo to the JRLO final in front of an expected crowd of more than 50,000 at the National Stadium.

Deans is a product of New Zealand’s Canterbury province who played five Tests at fullback for the All Blacks and went on to coach the Christchurch Crusaders to five Super Rugby titles between 2000 and 2008. He was an assistant coach with the All Blacks at the 2003 World Cup and coached Australia from 2008 to 2013.

Blackadder is also a Canterbury product as a player and coach. He played 71 matches for the Crusaders and 12 tests for the All Blacks as a loose forward before turning to coaching. He coached the Crusaders immediately after the Deans and until 2016, without adding to their championship total.

He managed to coach Bath in England before joining Brave Lupus in 2019.

Both Deans and Blackadder began their careers at the Glenmark-Cheviot club near Christchurch and Blackadder was effectively Deans’ protégé before following him to the Crusaders.

“I haven’t physically seen Toddy much since he moved here,” Deans said. “It’s like that, there aren’t many opportunities to cross paths. But we talk from time to time and it’s good to see him well. He has a good team there and they play good rugby.

The match in the coaches’ box is just one of many duels in the final.

Japanese flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda for the Wild Knights will mark All Blacks star Richie Mo’unga for Brave Lupus, Wallaby Marika Koroibete will mark Japan’s Jone Naikabula, Australian-born Japanese international Jack Cornelsen will oppose the legend Japanese Michael Leitch and Springboks winger Damien De Allende. will face former All Black Seta Tamanivalu.

The Wild Knights are unbeaten in 17 matches and are seeking their seventh title since the Japanese league became semi-professional as the Top League in 2003. Japan Rugby League One, now three years old, is its successor.

Deans said the presence of Mo’unga and All Blacks backrower Shannon Frizell in the Brave Lupus team helped make them a formidable opponent. Mo’unga has seven Super Rugby titles and is aiming to add the JRLO title in his first season in Japan.

“The league continues to progress, which is not surprising when you look at the number of current internationals, not to mention the coaches,” Deans said. “Mo’unga will obviously be a factor. He has a good habit of winning titles.

___

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby