Japanese Super Rugby franchise the Sunwolves warmed up for their first ever Super Rugby match with a 52-24 victory over a Top League select side at Toyota stadium in Aichi.
The Sunwolves outscored their opponents by 8 tries to three in the match after recovering from early shock when the Top League select side crossed for a try in the opening minute after Shota Emi pounced on a sloppy pass to race clear.
But the Wolves, who are expected to struggle in their first season, quickly struck back through centre Yasutaka Sasakura, before full-back Riaan Viljoen collected Tusi Pisi’s clever kick to add more points.
The South African added another try before Pisi burst clear and converted the try himself to give his side a 26-10 halftime lead.
Australian Ed Quirk, Koki Yamamoto and substitute Akihito Yamada were among the second-half scorers for the Sunwolves.
But there was little in a disjointed display to suggest the Lions will be quaking in their boots when they visit Tokyo for their opening game on February 27.
Sunwolves captain Shota Horie said that the match will give them a better idea on what they need to work on.
“Today, we could try some key plays both in attack and defense, which enabled us to identify the points to improve such as communication to organize our defence more,” said Horie.
Final Score Sunwolves 52 (26) Top 14 Select 24 (10)
Match Offical
Ref: Shuhei Kubo
Teams
Sunwolves
1 Inagaki Keita ,2 Shota Horie, 3 KakiHisashi Shinnosuke ,4 Timothy Bond,5 Hitoshi Ono,6 Thomas Leonardi,7 Andrew Deyurutaro,8 Edward Kirk,9 Atsushi Hiwasa, 10 Tushi-Pishi,11 Sasakura KanHomare,12 Tamura Yu,13 Harumichi Tatekawa,14 Jon Stewart,15 Leanne Firuyon
Replacements : TBC
Top 14 select
Takeo Kanai , Hiroki Yuhara , Asahara Takuma , Odo Yuya , Kajikawa Takashikai , Yamamoto Hiroshishi , KimuTadashi , Makoto Tosa , Ippei Asada , Hirose, Toshiro , Shota Emi , Takuya Ishibashi , Masuda Keisuke , Oshima Osamutaira , Kaoru Matsushita
Replacements : TBC
