League One champion and Most Valuable Player award winner Richie Mo’unga believes the fourth edition of Japan’s professional league will be the best season so far.
Mo’unga, 30, was speaking following Toshiba’s 28-47 loss to Suntory in the pre-season Fuchu derby on Saturday.
The former Crusaders superstar returned to the field and played 40 minutes in his first game in 178 days after guiding Toshiba to their first League One title on 26 May.
Mo’unga has enjoyed a full pre-season with his Japanese club after not being involved in his country’s summer and autumn fixtures for the first time since making his All Blacks debut in 2017.
The fly-half is unavailable for New Zealand due to their selection rule of only picking New Zealand-based players.
“My body feels really good, I’ve had a good pre-season here,” he told RugbyJP.
“My time and energy is on being here in Japan. I can’t control things around eligibility. If I could play for Toshiba and the All Blacks that would be great.”
Mo’unga is aiming for a repeat of last season’s League One title triumph which would be a first as no team has been able to retain the crown since the competition was formed – as a successor to the Top League - in 2022.
“Our focus is on winning the League One again. That’s the level I hold myself accountable to. I’m focused on trying to grow the players around me, we have a lot of youngsters and I want to help them to become better players.
“What happened last year is irrelevant, we’ve got a new team, new players, our focus mainly is on round one against Canon and getting ourselves prepared for that.”
Mo’unga, who followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Dan Carter in winning Japan’s top-flight and the MVP award in his first season in Japan, reflected on the defeat to Suntory Sungoliath.
“There were a lot of opportunities but there was a knock on, a forward pass, penalties, it stopped the flow of our game but yeah it was nice to run the ball, get tackled and get hurt a little bit which was quite nice.
“There are areas to improve, we made unforced errors but defended well. We tried to force a few things but overall, I was happy to get 40 minutes in. There were no injuries. Everyone’s healthy.”
Mo’unga is excited for his second season in Japan and is looking forward to coming up against some of the game’s biggest stars.
“Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory) is my favourite player,” he said.
“My second favourite is Kurt-Lee Arendse (Dynaboars), I’d love to meet him. Those two are so good. I love watching Kurt-Lee Arendse.
“Jasper Wiese has joined the D-Rocks and man he’s scary but for League One and rugby, I don’t think there’s ever been a bigger season.
“As a player I’m so excited, there’s so many World Cup winners and world-class players playing in Japan, the best League One season so far is coming up.”
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