Waratahs too hot for Sunwolves
The Sydney-based franchise kept their hosts scoreless in the second half, running in 31 points of their own to remain in touch with the Brumbies at the top of the Australian conference.
Perfect conditions greeted the players and immediately, both sides showed their hand as they looked to run the ball at every opportunity. The Sunwolves enjoyed a lengthy spell inside the Waratahs' 22 but handling errors cost them valuable momentum.
The Waratahs would make them pay for that though and were first on the board when they launched an attack from their 22. Rob Horne went on a blistering run through the Sunwolves' defence. He stepped past Riaan Viljoen before finding Will Skelton in support.
He then threw an offload to find Michael Hooper, who unselfishly handed the ball to Matt Lucas for the opening try. Bernard Foley added the extras to hand the visitors a 7-0 lead after 11 minutes.
The Sunwolves remained resolute and went back on the attack as they pinned the Waratahs inside their 22 once again. The sustained pressure eventually told as Will Skelton was penalised for a high tackle. Flyhalf Yu Tamura stepped up to slot the kick and put the home side on the board in the 21st minute.
Two minutes later and the Sunwolves were within a point as Viljoen showed his enormous boot by slotting a 57 metre penalty. Things were going the Sunwolves way as Taqele Naiyaravoro was shown a dubious yellow card for a "cynical late charge" on Yasutaka Sasakura in the 25th minute.
Tamura slotted the resulting penalty to hand the home side a 9-7 lead. However, that lead would be short lived though as the Waratahs hit back through a Jack Dempsey try after they attacked the first channel.
Foley switched the play to the left and quick hands by Israel Folau put Dempsey away for the score. Foley added the extras to hand the Waratahs a 14-9 lead after 29 minutes. The Sunwolves hit back with another Tamura penalty a minute later after the visitors were caught in an offside position inside their 22 as a result of a mistake which handed the home side the possession.
The scoreboard ticked over a few minutes later as Folau was again in the thick of things. He collected a loose ball close to the halfway line and broke through the Sunwolves' defence, beating four defenders in the process to grab a deserved try. Foley added the extras and the Waratahs led 21-12 after 36 minutes.
The visitors finished the half with another try through fullback Andrew Kellaway. A strong driving maul led to a set play from the backline. Kellaway got his hands on the ball and bounced off three defenders to score in the corner. Foley failed to add the extras but the Waratahs led 26-12 at the break.
The visitors picked up where they left off after the restart as wing Reece Robinson grabbed two tries in as many minutes within eight minutes of the restart.
First, the Waratahs got a powerful rolling maul going that got them to the Sunwolves' five metre line. The ball was recycled and flung left into the hands of Robinson, who went over in the corner. Then, Foley handed Tatafu Polota-Nau a beautiful pass that saw the hooker cut the line and offload to Robinson.
Foley added both conversions as the Waratahs led 40-12 after 49 minutes.
It would take a further 10 minutes before the Waratahs would get their seventh try of the match after a quick tap penalty. Dempsey burst through, offloaded to David Horwitz, who popped it to Lucas on the inside for his double. David Horwitz added the extras to 47-12 after 59 minutes.
A minute later, replacement Matt Carraro got into the action with his first touch of the ball as he benefitted from an offload to canter over. Horwitz failed to add the extras. It then took the Waratahs a further 11 minutes to register their ninth try of the match.
Another powerful maul was set and made some metres before Nick Phipps probed down the blind side. He got the pass away to Naiyaravoro who bounced Sasakura to score in the corner. Horwitz missed another conversion but the visitors had a 57-12 lead with seven minutes remaining.
The Sunwolves continued to press for second half points but it was not meant to be as they suffered their 11th defeat.
Man of the match: With perfect conditions, it was always going to be the backline players who would stand out. Riaan Viljoen remains one of the best Sunwolves players while Yu Tamura will be pleased with his role at pivot. Derek Carpenter was the best player for the home side as he carried strongly and cause the Waratahs some headaches. Will Skelton and Jack Dempsey kept the Waratahs' engine going while Tatafu Polota-Nau displayed more than just brute force. Israel Folau and Rob Horne were sublime with ball in hand, however, our vote goes to a nippy player who took his chance in the starting XV and controlled the game brilliantly – scrumhalf Matt Lucas.
Scorers:
For Sunwolves:
Pens: Tamura 3, Viljoen
For Waratahs:
Tries: Lucas 2, Dempsey, Folau, Kellaway, Robinson 2, Carraro, Naiyaravoro
Cons: Foley 5, Horwitz
Yellow card: Taqele Naiyaravoro (Waratahs, cynical play – late charge, 25)
Teams:
Sunwolves: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Mifiposeti Paea, 13 Derek Carpenter, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Yasutaka Sasakura, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Edward Quirk, 7 Taiyo Ando, 6 Liaki Moli, 5 Naohiro Kotaki, 4 Faatiga Lemalu, 3 Shinnosuke Katinaga, 2 Takeshi Kizu, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Futoshi Mori, 17 Keita Inagaki, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Yoshiya Hosoda, 20 Shokel Kin, 21 Yuki Yatomi 22 Ryohei Yamanaka, 23 Hajime Yamashita.
Waratahs: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Reece Robinson, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Rob Horne, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Matt Lucas, 8 Dave Dennis, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Tom Robertson, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Paddy Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Aki Aso (Japan), Noriaki Hashimoto (Japan)
TMO: Takashi Hareda (Japan)
