Japanese Super Rugby side The Sunwolves are a force to be reckoned with. Even though it’s their debut season they have a youthful team full of promise and energy with a backroom staff consisting of some the best in rugby in yester-years who bring with them the knowledge and know how to take Japanese rugby to new heights and spread the gospel of rugby to every household in the Asian region dominated by football.
The Coaching Panel
Mark Hammett, a former All Black and Hurricanes Head Coach will lead this new franchise. He was Assistant Coach at the Crusaders (2007-10) and head coach of The Canes from (2011-14). He has 81 caps for the Crusaders, where he played from 1996-03 and 29 caps for the All Blacks. Hammett inherits a list of 34 players that includes 15 with Test experience and 10 of them were part of the Brave Blossoms squad that took the world by storm at the recent Rugby World Cup.
Nathan Mauger, a former Crusaders player who also played twice for the All Blacks but never earned a Cap is the backline coach. Filo Tiatia is the forwards coach, the two time All Black, who scored tries in both of his games as an All Black brings with a wealth of experience too having played for the Hurricanes, Ospreys and also has local knowledge having played and coached for Toyota Verbilitz.
Players To Watch
Shota Horie – the 3o year old, former Melbourne Rebels player and Japan national hooker will lead this side from the front. He had a huge World Cup and has learnt a lot from his stints overseas and playing at Super Rugby level. Look forward to more dynamic runs from him this season.
Liaki Moli – nicknamed ‘The Monster’ is a former New Zealand U20s lock, a beast around the field, had limited chances at the Blues due to injury but will feature prominently for the Sunwolves as the penetrator.
Hitoshi Ono – a 96 Test veteran lock, synonymous with the rise of Japanese rugby, he is the eldest in the team, and the young team will build around him. He is a workaholic.
Andrew Durutalo – USA national player with Fijian ancestry who slots in at flanker and number eight, a tireless worker, a good space finder with his experience with the sevens team, will be a valuable asset.
Eddie Quirk – A former Australian U20s and Sevens player who played 39 times for the Reds. Is a valuable asset and will be fast around the park for a flanker.
Tomas Leonardi – can slot in from lock to the back of the scrum, has 11 caps for Argentina. He is vital in the contact area and will be the go forward guy in the team.
Atshushi Hiwasa – your favorite impact player, always behind the limelight, Fumiaki Tanaka’s understudy is your go to man at halfback when the defense is tiring and expect him to be doing much the same with the Sunwolves.
Riaan Viljoen – a strong running first-five/fullback will be vital on those counter attack, a South African by birth, represented both the Cheetahs and Sharks from 2010.
Tusi Pisi – He will be the leader at the back, can slot in at any position at the back, the Samoan national player’s kicking and leadership will be vital for this team.
Amanaki Lotoahea – Tongan-born winger who started as a forward is a powerful runner, they will look to him for those powerful runs on the flanks.
Derek Carpenter – A New Zealand born player who played for Northland’s ITM Cup team, a devastating runner at inside center, powerful defender and speed that will help his team through during hard times.
John Stewart – a Fiji-born sevens representative, a powerful runner and defender, can slot in at center and wing.
Akihito Yamada – A natural winger, who blitzed the rugby world with his try against Samoa at the Rugby World Cup. The future of Japanese rugby. He was with the Western Force in 2015.
Harumichi Tatekawa – a slick passer at midfield, will be valuable with his long fast passes and speed. He is a former Brumbies player.
Sunwolves Full Squad
Props – Keita Inagaki, Ziun Gu, Shohei Hirano, Koki Yamamoto, Shinnosuke Kakinaga, Masataka Mikami.
Hooker – Ryuhei Arita, Takeshi Kizu, Shota Horie.
Locks – Timothy Bond, Yoshiya Hosoda, Hitoshi Ono, Shiniya Makabe, Liaki Moli.
Flankers – Andrew Durutalo, Tsuyoshi Murata, Eddie Quirk.
No.8 – Fa’atiga Lemalu. Tomas Leonardi.
Halfback – Daisuke Inoue, Yuki Yatomi, Atsushi Hiwasa.
First/Second-fives – Harumichi Tatekawa, Riaan Viljoen, Yu Tamura, Tusi Pisi.
Centers – Ryohei Yamanaka, Derek Carpenter, John Stewart, Mifiposeti Paea.
Wings – Amanaki Lotoahea, Akihito Yamada.
Fullbacks – Yasutaka Sasakura, Hajime Yamashita.
If you were impressed by the Brave Blossoms performance at last years World Cup, look forward to more of the same from Mark Hammett’s men as they try to win more global audience with Japanese style of rugby, fast, unorthodox versatile brand of rugby. The Sunwolves will kick start their season against Lions on the 27th of February. They will have a pre-season game against a Japan Top League XV at the Toyota Stadium on the 13th of February.
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