The Chiefs produced a tactical masterclass to beat the Sunwolves 61-10 in Tokyo on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
After a relatively positive tour to South Africa, the Sunwolves would have been hoping to replicate their form and produce a massive upset against an injury-hit Chiefs side.
However, the Chiefs, through some clever tactical kicking and clinical attacking play, simply proved too strong for the hosts, who struggled to adjust to the pace of the game.
The visitors got off to an excellent start as first lock duo Tyler Ardron and Brodie Retallick scored to give the Chiefs a 14-0 lead after just 13 minutes.
The Chiefs made it three tries when hooker Nathan Harris strode over from a 5m lineout, before they wrapped up the bonus point in the first 20 minutes when wing Solomon Alaimalo cantered in after a break from Damian McKenzie.
As the first half drew to a close, the Sunwolves started to get into the game and got just rewards when Michael Leitch produced a brilliant offload to set Kotaro Matsushima away for a try and make it 28-5 at the break.
The home side made an excellent start to the second half when flying wing Hosea Saumaki handed off a Chiefs defender and then sprinted down the touchline to score.
The Chiefs hit back when Toni Pulu broke the line and passed on his inside to McKenzie, who jogged in for a try. A brilliant counterattack led by Ardron resulted in the Chiefs going coast-to-coast, with Alaimano getting his brace.
McKenzie then picked up his brace after receiving a clever kick in behind the Sunwolves’ defensive line from scrumhalf Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and sprinting in untouched to score a try which he converted.
Liam Polwart and Sean Wainui then ran in tries in the final 10 minutes to complete the rout.
Sunwolves – Tries: Kotaro Matsushima, Hosea Saumaki.
Chiefs – Tries: Tyler Ardron, Brodie Retallick, Nathan Harris, Solomon Alaimalo (2), Damian McKenzie (2), Liam Polwart, Sean Wainui. Conversions: McKenzie (8).
Sunwolves – 15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Michael Little, 11 Hosea Saumaki, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Willem Britz (c), 7 Edward Quirk, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Subs:16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Jiwon Koo, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Robbie Robinson, 23 William Tupou.
Chiefs – 15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Toni Pulu, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Johnny Fa’auli, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Taleni Seu, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Lachlan Boshier, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Aidan Ross.
Subs: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Karl Tu’inukaufe, 18 Jeff Thwaites, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Mitchell Karpik, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Sean Wainui, 23 Bailyn Sullivan.
Photo: Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
