Japanese Super Rugby franchise the Sunwolves host South Africa’s Cheetahs in the first match on Saturday in Super Rugby round 14 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.
This match will be the Sunwolves third Super Rugby match in Tokyo this season for the Sunwolves and they were last there in Round 7.
The Cheetahs have won all three games between the two teams.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
1.00: BEEP! BEEP! We are underway in Tokyo, with the South Africans kicking off in the Japanese sunshine.
3.00: The Cheetahs have possession and are putting the home team under some early pressure. They go seven phases before kicking the ball to Shota Emi. The Sunwolves clear, the ball is loose and the Cheetahs come again.
5.00: BIG HIT! The home team has the first scrum of the afternoon and they give away a free-kick. The Cheetahs go wide and Malgene Ilaua puts a huge hit on Teboho Mohoje. But, the visitors win the penalty and kick to touch.
7.00: The Cheetahs set up a driving maul; Torsten van Jaarsveld controls the ball at the base and they go 15 metres. Eventually, the South Africans win another penalty. They kick to touch and go again.
9.00: The Cheetahs win another penalty; Shaun Venter takes it quickly, but he loses it forward near the right-hand post. What a waste! Raymond Rhule is off the field for an HIA. Tian Meyer replaces the winger.
11.00: Sergeal Petersen puts in a little grubber, Tian Meyer collects and sets up quick ball. The Cheetahs attack, but are pinged at the breakdown. The Sunwolves survive again, just.
13.00: The Cheetahs win a penalty, kick to touch, and go wide from the set piece. Rhule knocks on with his team on the attack. It’s all Cheetahs in Tokyo at the moment.
15.00: Retshegofaditswe Nche breaks through a ruck and charges down the field. The prop is tackled inside the Sunwolves’ 22 and the home team wins the penalty and clears.
17.00: TRY Uzair Cassiem! Teboho Mohoje makes some metres from the quick ball. The Cheetahs pick and go, eventually, Cassiem crashes over from short range.
18.00: Neil Marais adds the extras and the Cheetahs have a deserved seven point lead.
22.00: The Sunwolves get their first REAL turn at possession, but they kick the ball away, inside their opponent’s half. The Cheetahs counter-attack through Sergeal Petersen and Clayton Blommetjies. Some good defence stalls the visitors, but they will have the scrum.
24.00: Clinton Swart takes the crash ball and set up another strong Cheetahs attack. Somehow, the Sunwolves turn the ball over and clear their lines. Raymond Rhule loses the ball, the hosts gather and kick forward in a frantic attack, but the ball goes out.
27.00: Niell Jordaan replaces Henco Venter at No 8. The Sunwolves win the penalty and kick deep into Cheetahs territory. However, they lose the ball at the lineout – not straight. Cheetahs ball.
29.00: The Cheetahs win the scrum penalty. They were pushed off their own ball but the referee pings the home team.
30.00: BIG D! Derek Carpenter holds up an attacker and the Sunwolves will get the put in. They have not had the best of territory and possession in the opening half-hour, yet they only trail by seven.
32.00: Takaaki Nakazuru goes close after chasing Yu Tamura’s little dink kick. The Cheetahs survive and will have a lineout on their 22. A kicking duel ensues as both teams look for territory.
35.00: Clinton Swart makes a break, passes to Clayton Blommetjies, who kicks forward. The Sunwolves clear and the South Africans come again. They lose the ball forward and the hosts will have a scrum in centre field, inside their half.
37.00: The Cheetahs kick the ball down the field and Kotaro Matsushima, is tackled into touch. The Sunwolves’ decision making is not great; they run when they should kick, and kick when they should run.
39.00: Ox Nche makes a break, passes to his skipper and the ball is kicked forwards. Sergeal Petersen almost gets over the try-line, but Kotaro Matsushima saves the day.
41.00: TRY Niell Jordaan! The hooter sounds and the Cheetahs attack with several pick-and-drives. Shaun Venter gets good, clean, quick ball and passes to his right, skipping two players for Jordaan on the wing, who dots down in the corner.
42.00: Neil Marais adds his second conversion and the visitors lead by two goals at the break.
The half-time score was Sunwolves 0 Cheetahs 14
41.00: BEEP! BEEP! We are back underway in Tokyo. The Cheetahs enjoyed 68 percent possession and 77 percent territory in the first stanza. The Sunwolves will need more ball and some tactical changes if they going to mount a comeback.
42.00: TRY Neil Marais! Sergeal Petersen starts the move with a break and an offload out the back door. The Cheetahs send the ball through several hands before the flyhalf shows a turn of speed and runs away to score. He can’t convert his own try, but the Cheetahs have a big lead.
44.00: Fumiaki Tanaka puts in a tricky box-kick, Raymond Rhule, under pressure from Takaaki Nakazuru, waits for an age for the ball to come down after the initial bounce. The Sunwolves will have an attacking scrum on the Cheetahs’ 5.
46.00: TRY Sam Wykes! The pressure has told. A good scrum from the home team sees Fumiaki Tanaka use the quick ball at the back of the scrum, send the pass to the lock forward on the charge. Wykes sees the gap and ghosts through Niel Marais and Carl Wegner to score under the posts.
47.00: Yu Tamura adds the easy conversion to reduce the deficit to 12 points.
50.00: Some more good work from Sam Wykes, who wins the penalty at the ruck after Oupa Mahoje is pinged for not releasing. That is an important turnover as the home team was under huge pressure inside their 22.
54.00: ALMOST! The Sunwolves conjure up some magic through scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka and Harumichi Tatekawa, who made the break. The centre got his offload to the No 9, the scrummy darted into the Cheetahs’ 22 and threw a wide long pass to his outside, but it was forward.
58.00: Both teams are making some changes. The Sunwolves have the lineout, but it’s lost. The South Africans come again. The next try will be very important.
61.00: The game is entering the final quarter. The Cheetahs win a scrum penalty at the halfway line and will kick to touch. Some more Sunwolves’ replacements enter the field.
65.00: The teams are getting tired and the mistakes are starting to creep into the game.
67.00: TRY Uzair Cassiem! The flanker gets his second after some deft handling by the South Africans. That is surely the game.
68.00: Marais kicks his third conversion.
71.00: TRY Torsten van Jaarsveld! The skipper collects Cassiem’s offload and crashes over near the posts.
72.00: Marais’ conversion is good.
77.00: TRY Tian Meyer! It all came from the captain’s break and charge up the field. the backs and forwards combined with some deft handling to send the scrummy away.
78.00: Marais’ fifth conversion brings up the Cheetahs 40 points.
80.00: TRY Sergeal Petersen! The winger gets a deserved try after receiving Clayton Blommetjies’ pass on the sideline. It all came from the first-phase ball and some good hands by the backs.
81.00: Francois Uys kicks the conversion and that’s the ball game.
Full-time
The final score is Sunwolves 7 (0) Cheetahs 47 (14)
Scorers
Sunwolves
Tries – Wykes
Pen –
Con – Tamura
Drop –
Cards –
Cheetahs
Tries – Cassiem (2), Jordaan, N. Marais, Van Jaarsveld, Meyer, Petersen
Pen –
Con – N. Marais (5), Uys
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Will Houston
Assistant Ref 1: Shuhei Kubo
Assistant Ref 2: Akihisa Aso
TMO: Minoru Fuji
Teams
Sunwolves
15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Takaaki Nakazuru, 13 Derek Carpenter, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Shota Emi, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Kotaro Yatabe, 3 Takuma Asahara, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Yasuo Yamaji, 19 Hitoshi Ono, 20 Shokei Kin, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Jumpei Ogura, 23 William Tupou.
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.
Replacements: 16 Elandré Huggett, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Niell Jordaan, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Fred Zeilinga.
