Brave Lupus Tokyo No. 10 Richie Mo'unga delivered a playmaking masterclass Sunday as he orchestrated a 41-19 victory over Sagamihara Dynaboars in Japan Rugby League One.
The New Zealand flyhalf had a hand in multiple tries as Brave Lupus bounced back from their first loss of the season with a dominant performance at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.
While Mo'unga has ruled out resuming national team duties for the time being, New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson watched from the stands as All Blacks No. 8 Shannon Frizell scored one of four first-half tries for Brave Lupus.
The Todd Blackadder-coached side led 24-0 before Sagamihara got on the board. The Dynaboars battled their way into the contest with back-to-back tries late in the half for a 24-14 deficit at the break.
But the Kanagawa Prefecture club relinquished any further comeback hopes after going down to 13 men with yellow cards for Hayato Hosoda and James Grayson early in the second half.
Brave Lupus wasted no time capitalizing on their numerical advantage, scoring two quick tries through winger Atsuki Kuwayama, both courtesy of pinpoint passes from Mo'unga.
In Sunday's other first-division clash, Mie Heat held on for a 20-19 win in their bottom-of-the-table battle with Hanazono Liners despite being at a man disadvantage following Takuro Hojo's 30th-minute dismissal.