Super Sunwolves shock the Bulls in Tokyo

Japanese Super Rugby franchise the Sunwolves edged former champions the Bulls 21-20 at at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.

Both teams scored two tries each and the result came down to kicking with Yu Tamura kicking a late penalty to earn the victory.

The Bulls had the opportunity to snatch the victory but Francois Brummer missed a penalty kick three minutes from time.

The victory is the Sunwolves first of the 2017 Super Rugby season and is the Bulls fifth loss in six matches.

The Bulls only other victory in 2017 was against the Sunwolves in Pretoria last month.

The Sunwolves were the first to score and they held on to their lead through half time at 11-10 and until the 8 minutes into the second half.

Tian Schoeman kicked his second penalty to put the Bulls into the lead at 11-13 before the South African side went further ahead in the 63rd minute with a try by Travis Ismaiel.

The Sunwolves refused to give up and  Kotaro Matsushima almost got through the Bulls defence to score but was stopped with a high tackle by Jan Serfontein who was yellow carded for the offernce.

With the extra man in the backline the Sunwolves took the bold move of taking a scrum for the penalty even though the Bulls scrum had been dominant. The decision paid off as the Sunwolves attacked the space where Seforntein would have been and  Kotaro Matsushima slipped through and scored for the hosts.

Hayden Cripps added the converison but the Sunwolves still trailed by two points at 18-20. in the 74th minute Yu Tamura slotted the match winning penalty which gave the Sunwolves the lead again.

Brummer’s 76th minute penalty shot could have put the Bulls back into the lead but his kick went wide and the Sunwolves held on for their first victory since April last year when they beat the Jaguares at the same venue.

Next week in Round 8 the Bulls play the Jaguares at home in Pretoria while the Sunwolves take on the Crusaders in Christchurch.

Final Score Sunwolves 21 (11) Bulls 20 (10)

Scorers

Sunwolves
Tries –  R.W.Vosayaco, T.Nakazuru
Pen – H.Cripps 2, Y.Tamura,
Con – H.Cripps
Drop –
Cards –

Bulls
Tries – B.Odendaal, T.Ismaiel
Pen – T.Schoeman 2
Con – T.Schoeman 2
Drop –
Cards – J.Serfontein (67th min yellow)

Match Officials
Referee: Will Houston
Assistant Ref 1:Rohan Hoffmann
Assistant Ref 2: Akihisa Aso
TMO : Minoru Fuji

Teams

Sunwolves

15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Takaaki Nakazuru, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Hayden Cripps, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Yasuo Yamaji, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Koki Yamamoto

Replacements: 16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 21 Yuki Yatomi, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka

Bulls

Warrick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel, Jan Serfontein, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Rudy Paige, Hanro Liebenberg, Jannes Kirsten, Nic de Jager, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss (c), Lizo Gqoboko.

Replacements: Edgar Marutlulle, Pierre Schoeman, Martin Dreyer, Jaco Visagie/HendréStassen, Jacques Potgieter, Ivan van Zyl, Francois Brummer, Franco Naude.