Share

Rebels too good for Sunwolves

Tokyo - The Rebels claimed  their third victory of this year’s Super Rugby tournament as they saw off the Sunwolves 35-9 in Tokyo on Saturday.

The visitors were full value for their win, dominating for large periods, and they outscored their hosts four tries to none.

The victory moves the Rebels provisionally into joint top spot on the Australian Conference table, alongside the Brumbies who face the Stormers in Cape Town later on Saturday. 

The Sunwolves' quest for that elusive first Super Rugby triumph continues and, like their previous matches against the Lions and Cheetahs, poor defending - especially in the second half - led to their downfall.

They did made most of the early attacking and opened the scoring in the third minute via a Tusi Pisi penalty. 

The Rebels soaked up the early pressure and soon took the lead - Jordy Reid rounding off in the corner after his inside backs did well to put him into space, deep inside the Sunwolves' 22, in the build-up.

Debreczeni missed with the conversion attempt but gave his side an 8-3 lead from the kicking tee in 27th minute before Pisi reduced the deficit to two points via another penalty shortly afterwards.

The home side came close to scoring their opening try in the 32nd minute when, after setting up a couple of phases inside the Rebels' 22, Keita Inagaki barged over the whitewash but his effort was disallowed by referee Mike Fraser after he failed to release the ball after being tackled.

The rest of the half was a scrappy affair characterised by several unforced errors from both sides and another Debreczeni penalty in the 37th minute gave the Rebels an 11-6 lead at the interval.

The home side started the second half like they did the first, and were soon camped inside the Rebels' 22 but couldn't round off as they continued to committ mistakes at critical times.

Pisi added another penalty in the 44th minute but the Rebels had their second try shortly afterwards when Jonah Placid took advantage of woeful defending and beat three defenders before offloading to Brett Meehan, who scored under the posts.

Debreczeni added another penalty, three minutes later, before Tom English exploited a gap in the Sunwolves defence and showed a superb turn of speed from close to the hosts' 22-metre line before crossing for his side's third try.

To their credit the Sunwolves didn't surrender and after attacking, from inside their half, they came close to scoring in the 60th minute but were kept at bay by a gallant defensive effort by the Rebels.

The visitors suffered a setback, however, when Lopeti Timani was sin-binned for a shoulder charge at a ruck in the 60th minute. Despite that blow, the Rebels didn't concede any points with 14 men and shortly after Timani returned, Sean McMahon barged over from close quarters for his side's fourth five-pointer which Dan Hawkins converted.

The match petered out in the last 10 minutes as the Sunwolves tried gallantly to break the Rebels' defensive line, but their attack lacked penetration and they had nothing to show for their efforts.

Scorers:

Sunwolves 9 (6)

Penalties: Tusi Pisi

Rebels 35 (11)

Tries: Jordy Reid, Ben Meehan, Tom English, Sean McMahon

Conversions: Jack Debreczeni (2), Daniel Hawkins

Penalties: Debreczeni (3)

Teams:

Sunwolves

15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Harumichi Tatekawa, 12 Yu Tamura, 11 Mifiposeti Paea, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Atsushi Hiwasa, 8 Edward Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Yoshiya Hosoda, 5 Timothy Bond, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Takuma Asahara, 2 Shota Horie (captain), 1 Keith Inagaki

Substitutes: 16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Tomas leonardi, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Derek Carpenter, 23 Yasutaka Sasakura

Rebels

15 Jonah Placid, 14 Dom Shipperley, 13 Tamati Ellison, 12 Mitch Inman, 11 Tom English 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Sean McMahon (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Pat Leafa, 1 Toby Smith.

Substitutes: 16 James Hanson, 17 Cruze Ah Nau, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Scott Fuglistaller, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Dan Hawkins, 23 Stone Tuipulotu

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
25% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1471 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2250 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE