I saw a Sunwolf with ginger hair
Walking through the streets of Tokyo in the rain
He was looking for the winger called Naiyaravoro
Cos Big T bruised him again and again
If you hear him howling in the wind
Better not let him in
Poor buggers getting mutilated this week
Sunwolves of Tokyo again
Apologies to the late, great Warren Zevon.
The Waratahs and Sunwolves have only had one previous encounter, a comprehensive victory to the boys in blue. The Tahs have had a reasonably good start to their campaign with three wins and a draw from their five matches. The Sunwolves are yet to be on the right side of the ledger in any of their five matches, but their raw statistics aren’t terrible in comparison to the Tahs. Still, who relies on raw stats? The simple facts are that the Sunwolves have never beaten an Australian team and have conceded more than six tries per match this year. You’d want damn good odds to be investing a lazy dollar or two on them.
Why should I bother?
On paper at least, there should be a lot of running rugby in this match and hopefully plenty of five pointers. The wingers from both sides will be relishing the opportunity to improve their try scoring counts. Can the Sunwolves negate the power of Taqele Naiyaravoro and the pace of Alex Newsome? The Sunwolves winger Hosea Saumaki who has been in great form is now out and replaced by journeyman Masirewa who has pace but will he see enough of the ball?
Key match ups
The Forwards
The Tahs should dominate up front against a willing opposition and provide halfback Jake Gordon with quick, clean ball allowing him to orchestrate the steamrolling of the Sunwolves pack giving the increasingly confident Tahs outside backs time and space. Greater urgency and efficiency (or lack thereof) in the four corners of the match (first five and last five minutes of each half) are key to the margin of the Tahs’ victory.
Conversely, the Sunwolves pack need to secure their own primary possession and work to effectively contest each breakdown. The backrow has a new look with Tokunaga and Lappies Labuschagne coming in and Himeno coming back from lock. Leitch has cracked ribs and is out for four weeks.
The No. 10s
Bernard Foley has pace and power available out wide and he’ll be relishing the opportunity to unleash it. Sunwolves flyhalf Yu Tamura will need to control field position if there is to be any possibility of an upset.
The game plans
The Tahs will almost certainly employ a classic “position and possession” approach to this match, attempting to get front foot possession before utilising their fast and powerful backline.
The Sunwolves will pay respect to field position but also look for any opportunity to go wide as they do have some significantly pacy backs of their own. Kick returns may provide an avenue to stretch the Tahs defence.
Prediction
Tahs to dominate all over the park and unleash power and pace on their wings.
Tahs by 40.
Match Details
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Sunwolves
1. Craig Millar
2. Shota Horie
3. Jiwon Koo
4. James Moore
5. Sam Wykes
6. Yoshitaka Tokunaga
7. Pieter Lappies Labuschagne
8. Kazuki Himeno
9. Yutaka Nagare (c)
10. Yu Tamura
11. Lemecki Lomano
12. Michael Little
13. Timothy Lafaele
14. Semisi Masirewa
15. Kotaru Matsushima
Reserves:
16. Jaba Bregvadze
17. Keita Inagaki
18. Nickoloz Khatiashvili
19. Wimpie van der Walt
20. Ed Quirk
21. Fumiaka Tanaka
22. Hayden Parker
23. Hosea Saumaki
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Waratahs
1. Tom Robertson
2. Damien Fitzpatrick
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Ned Hanigan
5. Rob Simmons
6. Will Miller
7. Michael Hooper (c)
8. Michael Wells
9. Jake Gordon
10. Bernard Foley
11. Taqele Naiyaravoro
12. Kurtley Beale
13. Curtis Rona
14. Alex Newsome
15. Bryce Hegarty
Reserves:
16. Hugh Roach
17. Harry Johnson-Holmes
18. Paddy Ryan
19. Tom Staniforth
20. Jed Holloway
21. Mitchell Short
22. Lalakai Foketi
23. Cameron Clark
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Match Details
Date: Saturday, 7 April 2018
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium – Tokyo, Japan
Kick-off: 14:15 local, 15:15 AEST
Referee: Angus Gardner (Au)
Assistant referees:
Shuhei Kubo (Jp), Tasuku Kawahara (Jp)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Jp)
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