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Sunwolves pile more misery on Bulls

A 75th-minute penalty from replacement Yu Tamura proved to be the difference in a match where both teams scored two tries.

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It was also the Bulls fifth loss in six games this season.

The struggling Sunwolves had looked close to scoring their sixth defeat in as many games after conceding a try to Travis Ismaiel after 64 minutes to leave the home side trailing by nine points and needing two scores.

But roared on by a Tokyo crowd which kept up a cacophony of wolf howls throughout, Filo Tiatia's side hit back with just over 10 minutes left when Takaaki Nakazuru touched down. 

Tamura converted to make it 20-18. 

He then coolly kicked a penalty in the 74th minute that proved the game winner before the final buzzer triggered scenes of unbridled joy among the players and the team's long-suffering fans.

The Sunwolves, currently in their second season after a horror debut in 2016 when they won just one of 15 games, could still have lost had Francois Brummer converted a late penalty.

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"We noticed we were giving away points in the last 20 minutes," Tiatia told reporters after a superb defensive display from his team.

"We talked about keeping calm, driving the game plan and raising the energy – the players that came on contributed well."

Bulls coach Nollis Marais lamented a late yellow card shown to Jan Serfontein.

"When we were down to 14 we knew we were in trouble," he said. 

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"It's always difficult to defend with 14 and what was good for us last time, was bad for us this time."

Man of the match: Some of the Bulls players showed some nice touches, but overall it was a disappointing display again. The award must go to one of the Sunwolves players for a passionate display and No.8 Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco embodied that. 

The scorers:

For Sunwolves:

Tries: Warren-Vosayaco, Nakazuru

Con: Tamura

Pens: Cripps 2, Tamura

For Bulls:

Tries: Odendaal, Ismaiel

Cons: T Schoeman 2

Pens: T Schoeman 2

Yellow card: Jan Serfontein (Bulls, 68 – cynical play, slowing down play)

Teams:

Sunwolves: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Takaaki Nakazuru, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Hayden Cripps, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco, 7 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Yasuo Yamaji, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Koki Yamamoto.

Replacements: 16 Takeshi, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 21 Yuki Yatomi, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka.

Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Nic de Jager, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Lizo Gqoboka.

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Hendré Stassen,  20 Jacques Potgieter, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Franco Naude.

Referee: Will Houston

Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann, Akihisa Aso

TMO: Minoru Fuji

AFP

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