Source: Radio New Zealand
Kobe Steelers coach Dave Rennie (L) and Ardie Savea. www.photosport.nz
Incoming All Blacks coach Rennie and his star flanker Ardie Savea have steered Kobe Steelers to the top seeding in Japan Rugby League One’s knockout stage.
The Steelers clinched victory in a key final match of the 18-round regular season, winning 24-19 away to arch rivals the Kubota Spears.
The win leaves Kobe top and the Saitama Wild Knights second, handing them a bye through the first round of the play-offs while the third-ranked Spears must play an elimination final.
The outcome also increases the likelihood of a short preparation time for Rennie when he takes charge of the All Blacks for the first time ahead of their first test of 2026 – a Nations Championship fixture against France in Christchurch on 4 July.
Kobe are guaranteed to be involved in either the Japanese final on 7 June, or the third-place match a day earlier.
The All Blacks will have less than a month with Rennie, along with attack coach Mike Blair, the Scotsman who works under Rennie at Kobe and has been included in the new-look New Zealand coaching staff.
Savea – who is a contender to be named All Blacks captain – will also have little time on the ground before probably being called into Test duty.
Despite missing the Super Rugby Pacific season, Savea and Kobe team-mate Anton Lienert-Brown are both in contention for All Blacks selection under clauses in their Japan sabbatical contracts.
Kobe produced a strong finish to the season to claim top spot, with co-captain Brodie Retallick enjoying a standout campaign.
Brodie Retallick scores a try during the rugby Test match between Japan and the All Blacks in Tokyo on 29 October, 2022. AFP / Philip Fong
In a remarkable feat, former All Blacks lock centurion Retallick topped the try-scoring list for all teams with 17 – leaving him one short of the competition season record.
There is a two-week break before the two Japan elimination finals are played.
The first match will pit fourth-placed Tokyo Sungoliath against the fifth ranked Black Rams Tokyo.
The teams’ respective captains are long-time All Blacks team-mates and test centurions Sam Cane and TJ Perenara.
The defending champion Brave Lupus Tokyo – coached by Todd Blackadder and featuring All Blacks first-five Richie Mo’unga – snuck into the knockout stage in sixth.
Their elimination final against the Kubota Spears – a rematch of last year’s final – could be the last in Japan for the 31-year-old Mo’unga, who was New Zealand’s first-choice playmaker at the last two World Cups.
Richie Mo’unga playing for Toshiba Brave Lupus, 2025. AFLO SPORT / PHOTOSPORT
His first two seasons of a three-year contract brought successive titles for the Brave Lupus.
Under New Zealand Rugby stipulations, Mo’unga is ineligible for the All Blacks’ opening Nations Championship tests on home soil, along with the four-test Greatest Rivarly tour of South Africa.
Meanwhile, the season is over for ninth-placed Toyota Verblitz, who have a strong Kiwi connection.
Steve Hansen is the club’s director of rugby while fellow-former All Blacks coach Ian Foster is head coach and former All Blacks Aaron Smith and Mark Tele’a are in their playing ranks.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand