VIDEO: Highlanders put half-ton past hapless Sunwolves

SUPER RUGBY REPORT: The Highlanders handed the Sunwolves a 52-0 drubbing in an eight-try rout in Tokyo on Friday.

The Highlanders have made it back-to-back wins and surged back into the play-off race with the bonus-point victory.

The victory has seen the Highlanders jump from 13th place on the ladder into the top eight.

Next week they face the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in a crunch New Zealand derby clash.

The hosts never got into the game against a free-running Highlanders, who dominated all aspects of the game in Tokyo.

The Sunwolves tried hard, but could not get a foot in the door – with possession, tackles or anything resembling consistent phases going the Highlanders’ way.

The visitors began like a house on fire, scoring a point a minute for the first half an hour – beginning with Thomas Franklin crossing the whitewash for the match’s opening try less than four minutes after the game began.

This was followed by a quick-fire double, with tries by Tyrel Lomax and Tevita Li in the 11th and 13th minutes respectively.

Josh Ioane secured the bonus point in just the 19th minute with his first try of the game, converting it himself to take the score to an intimidating 26-0.

Liam Coltman completed a horrendous first half for the Sunwolves when he scored the visitor’s fifth try in the 31st minute, helping his side to a 33-0 lead at half-time.

The home spent the first 10 minutes of the second half camped in Highlanders territory, winning penalty after penalty – but choosing to go for the try rather than take a meaningless three points.

Unfortunately it did not pay dividends, as the New Zealanders eventually won the ball and hit back hard on the counter, with Tevita Li crossing the line in the 51st minute to complete his brace.

Then the wheels fell off again for the home side and further tries by Rob Thompson and Sio Tomkinson took the Highlanders past the 50 point mark.

Highlanders skipper Luke Whitelock was impressed by his side’s ability to maintain their standards over the full 80 minutes.

“The guys put some huge effort in on defence and worked hard for each other,”Whitelock said.

“The Sunwolves have great speed of ball so I’m pleased with the team,” he added.

The scorers

For the Sunwolves:
None

For the Highlanders:
Tries: Franklin, Lomax, Li 2, Ioane, Coltman, Thompson, Tomkinson
Cons: Ioane 5, Gatland

Teams:

Sunwolves: 15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Gerhard Van den Heever, 13 Josh Timu, 12 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Dan Pryor (captain), 6 Grant Hattingh, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Alex Woonton, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Tom Rowe, 20 Ben Gunter, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Jason Emery.

Highlanders: 15 Matt Faddes, 14 Sio Tomkinson, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 James Lentjes, 6 Luke Whitelock (captain), 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Josh Dickson, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Bryn Gatland, 23 Dillon Hunt.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Japan)