{"id":412248,"date":"2026-05-05T03:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/412248\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T03:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:05:20","slug":"moungas-championship-streak-under-threat-as-he-ponders-return-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/412248\/","title":{"rendered":"Mo’unga’s championship streak under threat as he ponders return home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richie Mo\u2019unga\u2019s remarkable winning streak in domestic championships is under real threat this season at the Toshiba Brave Lupus and there is a good chance he will return to New Zealand earlier than perhaps expected.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga, the All Blacks\u2019 first choice No.10 before he left for Japan at the end of 2023, has won two League One titles with the Brave Lupus in two years but his team are currently sixth on the table and have struggled to find the consistency they have become renowned for under his direction.<\/p>\n

With one round to play, they are guaranteed to make the final playoffs place but will face a giant hurdle in the form of the Kubota Spears or Saitama Wild Knights in their sudden-death quarter-final.<\/p>\n

The Brave Lupus have lost nine matches this year \u2013 including a streak of seven in a row. They lost two in 2025 and only one in 2024. Mo\u2019unga, who will turn 32 at the end of the month, won back-to-back championship MVP awards over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

The table-topping Kobelco Kobe Steelers, led by new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie, will be favourites to take the title this year, although they have only a slim lead over the Saitama Wild Knights, coached by Robbie Deans. Both sides have lost only twice this season.<\/p>\n

The third-placed Kubota Spears have the same competition points as the Wild Knights, with the top three placings all up for grabs on the final weekend of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga, the former Crusaders linchpin, won seven titles in a row under former head coach Scott Robertson and several championships with Canterbury.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Robertson and Richie Mo’unga celebrate beating the Chiefs in the 2023 Super Rugby grand final. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

He was always set to return to New Zealand in the middle of the year to push for a place in the All Blacks at next year\u2019s World Cup but there was an end-of-term feel to Mo\u2019unga\u2019s address to the Brave Lupus\u2019 supporters at the weekend after he celebrated his 50th match for the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of myself and my family I just want to thank everyone who has made Japan awesome for us. We\u2019ve really enjoyed our experience in Japan\u2026 Toshiba has a really special place in my heart. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got some of the journey left so I\u2019m excited to see what the future holds for Toshiba, but if I don\u2019t get another chance, thank you very much for supporting me and looking after me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga, who has signed a two-year deal with New Zealand Rugby, will return to Christchurch at season\u2019s end to play for Canterbury in the NPC, but there remains intrigue over whether Rennie will be allowed to select him for the \u201cGreatest Rivalry”<\/a> tour of South Africa in August and September.<\/p>\n

NZ Rugby\u2019s eligibility rules state Mo’unga, who has played 56 Tests, must play a full season of NPC to be available for a tour which includes four Tests (one is in Baltimore) against the world champions \u2013 unless there is an injury to Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie or Ruben Love \u2013 but in an interview with 1News in November<\/a> Mo’unga radiated positivity about his chances of being included.<\/p>\n

\"Richie<\/p>\n

Richie Mo’unga makes a break for the All Blacks during his team’s World Cup semifinal win over Argentina in 2023. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cI get the rules that have been put in place and I guess I have to come to grips with that is what it is,\u201d Mo\u2019unga said. \u201cBut yeah, the South African tour would be something special to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cHey, we\u2019ll see what happens. I\u2019m still very optimistic that something might happen and I might be available for that tour. So, I\u2019m still hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would seem certain that Rennie will test the NZ Rugby board\u2019s stance on the matter ahead of a demanding series against a world champion Springboks team selected from clubs around the world. <\/p>\n

In his first interview after being given the job<\/a> at the start of March, Rennie, who coaches Brodie Retallick at Kobe, raised the prospect of the veteran lock returning, saying Retallick was in the form of his life and still had plenty to offer.<\/p>\n

Rennie, who will address New Zealand\u2019s media next week, will know better than most how well Mo\u2019unga is playing and the man himself believes he has improved.<\/p>\n

“I definitely think I\u2019m going back to New Zealand as a better player,\u201d Mo\u2019unga said in a recent press conference at Toshiba.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are things that I’ve encountered here in Japan that I haven’t encountered before as a player like adversity, the challenges of going through life in another country and also the different type of rugby that’s played here. <\/p>\n

“Sometimes the rugby here can be really disorganised and quite chaotic so I’ve got to experience that and found ways of how you deal with that and solutions to that. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve developed in areas such as how to go about building pressure slowly, and managing the right parts of the field, so I’ve learned a lot of lessons here.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richie Mo\u2019unga\u2019s remarkable winning streak in domestic championships is under real threat this season at the Toshiba Brave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[789,56380,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-412248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-crusaders","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}