Watch: Hadleigh Parkes scores on his Top League debut

Former England and British & Irish Lions lock George Kruis was in action for Panasonic as they kicked off their season with a convincing 55-14 win over Ricoh Black Rams. Also making his debut was former Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes who scored on his first competitive outing for the Knights. 

The side coached by former Crusaders and Wallabies boss Robbie Deans, the Knights were down early on as Keagan Faria got Ricoh off to a flyer dotting down inside the first minute of the game. The Knights hit back through a penalty from Japanese international Rikiya Matsuda and were in the lead after 22 minutes as Shunsuke Nonmaki dotting down. The Knights finished the half strongly with Brave Blossoms' scrumhalf Keisuke Uchida scoring in the 33rd minute with Matsuda adding the extras and a penalty as they lead 20-7 at halftime. 

Faria was at it again in the second half scoring his second try just 7 minutes. Shota Fukui restored the 13 point buffer for the Knights and extended the lead to 20 shortly afterwards with his second try. Brave Blossoms flyer Kenki Fukuoka sped past the Ricoh defence to further extend their lead after an hour before Itsuki Onishi edged the Knights closer to half a ton. With the result well and truly sealed, Hadleigh Parkes put the icing on the cake for his new side with his try on debut as he managed to hold onto a loose ball after a turnover from Craig Millar near the Ricoh line. Full Time: Panasonic 55-14 Ricoh.

Some decent juggling from Hadleigh Parkes to score on his Top League debut for @panasonic_wk 🤹‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/TOzfNyC8nH

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) February 20, 2021