Former All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick just can\u2019t stop scoring tries this season in the Japan Rugby League.<\/p>\n
The Dave Rennie-coached Kobelco Kobe Steelers faced off against the bottom of the table Yokohama Canon Eagles in round six of the 2025\/26 season this weekend, and survived a late rally to secure a narrow 38-32 victory.<\/p>\n
Kobe and Retallick shine<\/p>\n
Heading into the fixture, Retallick<\/a> had already scored seven tries in five rounds of action, including four scores against the BlackRams Tokyo last time out.<\/p>\n He kept the streak going this weekend, grabbing a try, provided an assist for another, and is now the competition\u2019s leading try scorer.<\/p>\n Despite the fact that both teams entered the fixture on opposite ends of the Japan Rugby League<\/a> One table, it was a closely fought encounter with Kobe holding a narrow 8-10 lead at half-time, despite being down a man with Ardie Savea in the sin bin.<\/p>\n However, the game opened up in the second 40 minutes with Retallick scoring the second of three tries in a 15-minute scoring spree that blew Kobe out to a 23-point lead.<\/p>\n That period of dominance should have seen Kobe cruise to victory, especially against a winless Eagles outfit, but Leon MacDonald\u2019s charges looked en route to an incredible late comeback.<\/p>\n Springboks centre and Canon captain Jesse Kriel scored two tries for the hosts, with his second score putting his side within striking distance of Kobe.<\/p>\n Camped deep inside their 22, the Eagles launched a last-ditch attempt at winning the match by launching an attack from behind their own try line, but a sharp tackle by Retallick killed the threat off and extended Kobe\u2019s unbeaten run to five matches \u2013 the club\u2019s best run since a side coached by Wayne Smith won the title in 2018 during a sequence of 18 wins on end.<\/p>\n Kobe\u2019s last title-winning side, which was captained by All Black<\/a> scrum-half Andy Ellis, also featured his Test colleague and three-time World Rugby Player of the Year, Dan Carter.<\/p>\n Aaron Smith set for epic last hurrah? Ambitious Top 14 club target All Blacks legend to fill Englishman\u2019s void<\/a><\/p>\n Ex-All Blacks coaches continue to struggle<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the result means that former All Blacks assistant coach MacDonald remains winless in the Japanese league, falling to his sixth straight defeat, with the club\u2019s losing streak in regular-season matches extending to 10.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a tough season for former All Blacks coaches this campaign, with Sir Steve Hansen and Ian Foster just a point and a place better off than MacDonald\u2019s Eagles on the league table.<\/p>\n SA Rugby boss believes \u2018first credible attempt\u2019 for a global calendar has a \u2018good chance\u2019 but New Zealand the \u2018biggest challenge\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Toyota Verblitz haven\u2019t won since their opening game of the season and were dealt their latest defeat by the Shizuoka BlueRevs, who climbed into the top six.<\/p>\n Springboks flanker Kwagga Smith scored twice off the bench as the BlueRevs marched to an impressive 43-19 victory, which furthers Verblitz\u2019s threat of featuring in the relegation series along with the Eagles.<\/p>\n Hansen and Foster\u2019s side haven\u2019t won since the opening round of action, and have conceded 203 points during a horrific five-game run since.<\/p>\n Pieter-Steph du Toit\u2019s long-term injury has furthered the side\u2019s woes, while rumours in France state that Top 14 club Pau are keen to land the services of Aaron Smith, whose contract expires at the end of the season.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n