Japan’s Sunwolves top Waratahs for 1st win on Australian soil
NEWCASTLE (AUSTRALIA), Mar 30, 2019, Kyodo. The Sunwolves may have been thrown out of Super Rugby but they showed Friday night at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, north of Sydney, they intend to go out with a bang, reported the Kyodo.
Inspired by Hayden Parker, playing his 50th Super Rugby game, the Sunwolves beat the 2014 Super Rugby champion Waratahs 31-29 for their second win of the season. The victory allowed them to get revenge for a 31-30 Round 2 loss in Tokyo, one of five in the season.
Parker continued his remarkable run with the boot, kicking five-from-five to make it 27-from-27 for the season and 70 from his last 71 as the Sunwolves won for the first time on Australian soil on the back of three tries from Semisi Masirewa.
“He hasn’t missed all season. I’m sure we’ll have a couple of stubbies (beers) this evening,” Sunwolves captain Dan Pryor said of Parker.
Of Masirewa, Pryor said, “He’s got magic feet. We worked well together and gave him some opportunities and he took them.”
The Sunwolves came into the game having gained an average of 493 meters per game this season, more than any other team in the competition.
And they once again tried to run their opposition off the field. With the Waratahs also keeping ball in hand, it made for a highly entertaining game.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks on and off the field but the boys dug deep…stayed committed and worked together,” said Pryor.
The home team got off to the perfect start with Nick Phipps crossing the chalk with less than 90 seconds on the clock following a well-worked line-out 40 meters out.
Parker closed the gap with an 11th-minute penalty before the Waratahs extended their lead when quick hands and a good offload from Kurtley Beale put Cameron Clark away for a five-pointer.
The Waratahs then seemed to tire and the Sunwolves took full advantage with Grant Hattingh and Masirewa both touching down.
Hattingh’s effort was the result of a patient build-up while Masirewa owed his score to a superb pass from Hendrik Tui and good support from Dan Pryor.
A penalty from Mack Mason closed the gap but with the Waratahs struggling to hold onto the ball in the face of some good Sunwolves defense, it was the visitors who went into the sheds at halftime leading 17-15.
Sunwolves head coach Tony Brown said during the break his team needed to put the Waratahs under pressure particularly at the breakdown and nullify their threats out wide.
His Waratahs counterpart Daryl Gibson, meanwhile, said his team needed to cut down on their errors and make use of the strong wind in their favor.
And it was Gibson’s team who once again came out quickest with Michael Hooper crossing three minutes into the second stanza.
But, as in the first half, the Sunwolves hit back with Masirewa adding two tries in the space of four minutes, the first the result of attacking brilliance from the Sunwolves, the second from a mistake by the Waratahs.
Parker added both conversions, the first from the touchline managed despite the strong wind, as the Sunwolves went 31-22 up.
The Waratahs dominated possession and territory for the next 10 minutes and were eventually rewarded when Beale took a quick penalty and dived over.
But that was as good as it got for the hosts as the Sunwolves defense held out the rest of the way.
“(It is a) crash back to earth,” said Waratahs captain Michael Hooper, whose side beat two-time defending champions the Crusaders last week.
Share it
| 
| 
| 
| 
|