Parkes has a great day in Japan with Wild Knights
HADLEIGH Parkes came up with a player-of-the-game performance as Panasonic Wild Knights came out on top in the showpiece fixture in Japan’s Top League.
Just as the Welsh rugby public came to appreciate what the man from Hunterville in New Zealand offers, so, too, are the locals in Ota City.
A 26-13 win over NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes kept Parkes and his teammates at the top of their conference, ahead of Wayne Smith’s Kobe Steelers.
He may not be in the first flush of youth anymore, but the 33-year-old is still delivering in trademark style.
While it’s highly unlikely that Warren Gatland will look to Japan for candidates to fill his Lions squad this summer, if he did, one of the go-to choices of the New Zealander’s final years in charge of Wales would surely be among those who’d merit consideration.
His latest effort underlined as much, with the 29-cap centre scoring a try and setting one up as the Wild Knights ended the unbeaten run of the Hurricanes.
It took the unbeaten Knights to their fourth successive victory this season, with Parkes having featured in every game.
Hurricanes had been inspired by ex-New Zealand scrum-half TJ Perenara in their previous games, but Parkes showed the form which made him such a hit with Wales and the Scarlets.
His club have conceded only 39 points in four matches and were in resolute mode once again as they held on for victory in Osaka.
Their No.12s work in attack attracted most attention, though, with New Zealand website Stuff reporting: “Hadleigh Parkes proved an influential figure for the victors, producing two key plays that broke the game open.
“The former Welsh international scored from a charge down to help his side to a 10-7 halftime lead, and then drew in two defenders before executing an overhead offload in contact, to set up winger Akiaki Takeyama for Panasonic’s second try.”
Parkes curtailed his Wales career last year after opting for a late-career move to Japan.
After making his Test debut against South Africa in 2017, he went on to take a Grand Slam with his adopted country and feature in a World Cup semi-final, finishing with a more than respectable 68.96 win record overall.