Sunwolves bring in former 'Canes No.9
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Sunwolves have made a few changes to their starting XV for the match against Hurricanes in Tokyo on Friday.
Fresh from their first bye of the season, Sunwolves head coach Tony Brown has made five changes to the side who suffered a 15-42 defeat to the Rebels at the AAMI Park.
In the pack, Brown modified his front row and opted to bring in tighthead prop Hiroshi Yamashita and hooker Nathan Vella.
The rest of the changes is in the backline. Former Hurricanes scrumhalf Jamie Booth replaces Kaito Shigeno as the preferred No.9 for this week, while Fumiaki Tanaka will come in as cover.
In the midfield, Jason Emery and Harumichi Tatekawa are replaced by New Zealander Josh Timu and Australian Rahboni Vosayaco as this week’s centre pair. Emery takes a spot on the bench.
Dan Pryor retains the captain’s armband.
Sunwolves: 15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Gerhard Van den Heever, 13 Josh Timu, 12 Rahboni Vosayaco, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Jamie Booth, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Dan Pryor (captain), 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Tom Rowe, 20 Shuhei Matshuhashi, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Jason Emery, 23 Jamie Henry
Date: Friday, April 19
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 19.00 (10.00 GMT, 22.00 New Zealand time)
Referee: tbc
Assistant Referees: tbc
TMO: tbc
