Brumbies bulldoze Sunwolves in Tokyo
MATCH REPORT: The Brumbies’ powerful pack made sure their march to a 42-19 win over the Sunwolves in Tokyo.
The bonus-point win on Saturday takes the Brumbies to 39 points on the ladder, five clear of Melbourne with two games to play.
They have been without the best openside flank in the world David Pocock for most to the season but have still found a way to win.
The Sunwolves are anchored to the bottom of the ladder with wins over the Waratahs and Chiefs this season.
The Brumbies outscored the Sunwolves six tries to three.
Replacement hooker Connal Mcinerney scored a hat-trick of tries for the visitors with Pete Samu, Irae Simone and Tom Banks completing the try scoring for the Australians.
Flyhalf Christian Lealiifano was also in fine form from the tee as he added 12 points to his side’s tally.
The home side scored the first try when the “Tongan Godzilla” Hosea Saumaki broke through in the opening minute but the Brumbies quickly responded.
Wallabies No.8 Samu squared the ledger in the ninth minute before Simone and Banks scored from backline moves inside the half-hour.
Brumbies super-sub McInerney replaced hooker Folau Faingaa at halftime and scored a hat-trick in the second half, all from rolling mauls.
He had never scored a Super Rugby try and becomes the fifth player in Super Rugby history to score three off the bench.
The Brumbies next face the Waratahs before hosting Queensland in the final round.
The scorers:
For Sunwolves:
Tries: Saumaki, Masirewa, Booth
Cons: Parker 2
For Brumbies:
Tries: Samu, Simone, Banks, Mcinerney 3
Cons: Lealiifano 6
Teams:
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, 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, 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 Valetini, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Tom Wright
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistant referees: Nick Briant (New Zealand), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Japan)
Source: AAP
