Sunwolves
19
Match Complete
Brumbies
42
| 72 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 71 | C. McInerney | |||
| 59 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 58 | C. McInerney | |||
| H. Parker | 52 | |||
| J. Booth | 50 | |||
| 49 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 48 | C. McInerney | |||
| S. Masirewa | 34 | |||
| 29 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 28 | T. Banks | |||
| 22 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 20 | I. Simone | |||
| 10 | C. Lealiifano | |||
| 8 | P. Samu | |||
| H. Parker | 2 | |||
| H. Saumaki | 0 |
| 3 | Tries | 6 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 6 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Sunwolves and Brumbies will go head to head in Tokyo on Saturday in a match where the Brumbies could take a very big step towards locking in the Australian conference and a home Finals match. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of this exciting match starting from 3:15pm AEST on Saturday.
It’s been an emotional week for the men from Canberra. First David Pocock announced his retirement from Super Rugby after failing to recover from his latest injury.
Then club favourite Henry Speight confirmed that he’s leaving the Brumbies to join Australian rivals the Reds from next season.
These are two big names leaving GIO Stadium but while sad, ironically this could actually spur the Brumbies on to more success this season.
Pocock has been missing for most of the season and the Brumbies have done well in his absence. Speight – while playing pretty well this season – hasn’t been as important an attacking weapon as say Tom Banks or Tevita Kuridrani.
With Irae Simone coming along nicely, the Brumbies backline looks like it’ll be just fine without the mighty Speight next year.
Also, the news of two club legends leaving could well bring another source of inspiration and drive at this crucial point in the season.
The Brumbies look settled at the moment on the pitch and that’s reflected in the line up where just one player has been changed from last week’s win with James Slipper joining the front row and Scott Sio coming off the bench. More good news for the Brumbies is that impressive #8 Lachlan McCaffrey is back and will also be coming off the bench at some point.
The same consistency cannot be said for the Sunwolves however – there are more changes than at a fashion show and interim head coach Steve Hansen will have his fingers crossed that his weakened side can still compete.
Five of the starting team are headed to join the Japan World Cup squad and their absence is likely to be felt, especially in the forwards where Luke Thompson and Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco will leave big holes to fill.
Interestingly Semisi Masirewa has been moved to full back and it will be exciting to see what he can do with some ball and space but ultimately this Sunwolves side are going to have to play out of their skins to get a result on Saturday.
Prediction
The Brumbies should win this and win it well. If they can get that all important forward dominance early then there’s no reason they can’t turn the scoreline into something the casual onlooker might confuse with a scoreboard from the Cricket World Cup.
Brumbies by 20.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of this exciting match starting from 3:15pm AEST on Saturday.
Where: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Date: Saturday 1st June 2019
When: 3:15pm AEST
TV: Foxsports
Betting: Sunwolves $5.20, Brumbies $1.15
Sunwolves
15 Semisi Masirewa
14 Gerhard van den Heever
13 Jason Emery
12 Phil Burleigh
11 Hosea Saumaki
10 Hayden Parker
9 Jamie Booth
8 Ben Gunter
7 Dan Pryor (c)
6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga
5 Tom Rowe
4 Mark Abbott
3 Takuma Asahara
2 Nathan Vella
1 Alex Woonton
Replacements
16 Jaba Bregvadze
17 Masataka Mikami
18 Conan O’Donnell
19 Yuya Odo
20 Kara Pryor
21 Keisuke Uchida
22 Takuya Yamasawa
23 Timothy Lafaele
Brumbies
15 Tom Banks
14 Henry Speight
13 Tevita Kuridrani
12 Irae Simone
11 Toni Pulu
10 Christian Lealiifano (c)
9 Joe Powell
8 Pete Samu
7 Jahrome Brown
6 Tom Cusack
5 Sam Carter
4 Rory Arnold
3 Allan Alaalatoa
2 Folau Fainga’a
1 James Slipper
Replacements
16 Connal Mcinerney
17 Scott Sio
18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin
19 Darcy Swain
20 Lachlan McCaffrey
21 Rob Valentini
22 Matt Lucas
23 Tom Wright
Referee: Federico Anselmi
Assistant Referee: Nick Briant, Shuhei Kubo
TMO: Minoru Fuji
2019 Form (last 5 games)
Sunwolves – LLLBL
Brumbies – LWWBW
Played 4
Sunwolves won 0
Brumbies won 4
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Speaking of types, my face is often mistaken for that of an ex:forward. My response ‘ What? I’ll have you know I was a princess!”. I played at 14 mostly. I could run as fast a prop though. And I was very elusive, especially in defence.
riddler
Roar Rookie
i know your type paulo, i know your type!! ;)
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
LOL I like you, Paolo. A lot. P.S. Hurricanes have an outside chance to catch the Saders. P.P.S. Watched rugby for 12 hours now. Gonna finish the day/night with the CL final. Good thing it has rained almost all day and Miss Neutral is away over the weekend.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
And as a pretty boy back, I always felt bad when they got past me... but so long as they didn’t touch my face, I got over it ; p
Paulo
Roar Rookie
He is definitely a dangerous runner. I guess teams haven’t had to worry too much about him as what ever he can score or assist, the wolves will leak twice as many anyway. I hope that once the Sunwolves are disbanded he finds a home somewhere in the remaining SR teams.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
I did think in the Blues game that last penalty kick for the win, if they had Parker it was a straight up 3pts, but any other Kiwi kicker it was touch and go. And regarding the Crusaders Triple... wash your mouth out, nothing can stop the three-peat haha
moondoggie
Roar Rookie
Brumbies should make the semi finals from here, that would be a successful season after not making the finals last year. It would be a bonus to get further.
lewismarsh
Roar Rookie
I came onto this thread to ask that exact same question. Who is he eligible for, the lucky duckies.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
How wild a runner is Masereiwa? Surely Fiji must be keen on him for RWC.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
My plea for ‘no offence’ failed alas. To be clear Paul, there were moments that looked very ‘sieve like’ on the Brums side. So we don’t need to argue. I won’t repeat my point above. I agree with you regarding the required improvement in Canberra. You are welcome to your opinion. I did not intend to censor it. Apologies if I did. How wild a runner is Masereiwa?
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Thanks Riddler. I will have a read.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
There’s a lot in your team that’s refreshing Riddler. It’s not quite who I would pick, but at least it shows enterprise, and Powell and Filipo would be interesting experiments. My main reason for giving it a tick is that it spurns the ‘jobs for the boys’ we’ve seen for the last four years. I agree about your 12 and 13. I would also have Banks and Hodge in there somewhere. We need a playmaker who deceives defences (as in Christian’s kick to Henry today), a nine who is crisp and accurate, with speed and a big hoof in the back three. But it’s sadly academic Riddler. I don’t think that our coaching ‘panel’ intends to select this way. We can play monopoly all we like here. In the real rugby world another logic comes into play. I would be happy to be proven wrong.
riddler
Roar Rookie
all of the lucas boys go low in the tackle. very solid techniques. i for one don't mind if someone goes low and misses because usually they slow them down a bit and more importantly it allows someone else to come in over the top. when someone goes high and misses it gets my goat. has always been a pet dislike of mine, especially as a pigg ie lifting my large rear end off the ground to see a pretty boy try and do a tango dance for a tackle.
riddler
Roar Rookie
catchy i have just put some stats on the tahs thread. your boys defended like champions last night. mightily impressed!!
Mark Richmond
Roar Guru
Lot of the first up tacklers tried to go high and lock the ball up....Lucas showed how to do it when he came on, grab a leg/legs and just don’t let go.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Ok. Kens happy with the Brumbies defence. Nothing to worry about. I'm sure they'll be fine against sterner tests..... Sorry for having an opinion.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Okay Paul. Take us through it. What is your best method for tackling Masereiwa? No offence Paul, but the guy sidesteps at 90 degrees and at full pace. The Doggies are a great attacking team. But attacking teams often don’t defend well. As we’ve seen two weeks in a row. But their attack is good. The Brums could defend better, sure. But the scoreboard shows who tackled better on the day.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
That looked more like the Sunwolves "pre-cut", very entertaining rugby. But Brumbies are just too good. If the Jags can hold on to their groove, Hurricanes can find their groove, there are three teams that could challenge the Saders triple. And another shout out to the crowd in Tokyo. Not only the biggest around but also the best. Pure class. I tip my hat. Powell keeps showing that he is OZ best scrumhalf. Parker is NZ's third-best flyhalf.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Good showing Wolves. Entertaining game. Brumbies attack looked good, but they need to fix their defence. Seemed to be alot of missed tackles.
Oliver Matthews
Roar Guru
FINAL SCORE Sunwolves: 19 Brumbies: 42 The Brumbies have successfully completed their mission by picking up a bonus point win over in Japan with a 42-19 victory over the struggling Sunwolves. The Aussie side were the firm favourites going into the game but when the Sunwolves scored with just one minute on the clock there would have been a few pulse rates increase. The Brumbies however then dominated huge passages of the rest of the game and while the Sunwolves kept fighting and scored some lovely tries they were never able to get close enough to the Brumbies to really put them under pressure. Unfortunately for the home side they lacked any real power or grunt up front and so the game plan was pretty much "get it to Masirewa" and hope he can make something happen. Several times he did but that was never going to be enough to beat the Canberra men. For the Brumbies it was a good job done. Win by plenty, get the bonus point and get out without any injuries. Reserve hooker Connal Mcinerney will remember this day for a long time as he became only the 5th player ever in Super Rugby to score a hat trick coming off the bench. Irae Simone continues to impress and he'll be a real threat for any team that try and stop him. So with the Rebels losing yesterday to the Tahs, the Brumbies grow their lead at the top of the Australian conference a bit but still have to keep winning to lock in that home Finals match first up. Loads more rugby today on the Roar so stay tuned and get involved. Let me leave you with a question - how far can this Brumbies side go this season do you think?