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Form players leave Sunwolves squad in lead up to Brumbies rematch

By Online Editors
Sunwolves flanker-cum-centre Rahbonu Warren-Vosayaco on display against the Hurricanes. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)

As has happened throughout the season, the Sunwolves will be without a contingent of their top players when they take on the Brumbies in Tokyo on Saturday.

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The Brumbies cantered to a 33-0 win in Canberra last time the teams met earlier this year, and things don’t look to be getting any easier for the Japan-based side.

Sunwolves interim head coach Scott Hansen announced earlier in the week that five players would be leaving the squad to prepare for the upcoming World Cup with the Japanese development team. Rugby News Japan confirmed the five players would be prop Hiroshi Yamashita, lock Luke Thompson, loose forwards Henrik Tui and Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco and halfback Kaito Shigeno. As such, all five players have been omitted from the Sunwolves match day squad to face the Brumbies.

Yamashita has been replaced at tighthead prop with Takuma Asahara. He is joined in the front row by Nathan Vella and Alex Woonton. Thompson’s position is filled by Otago second-rower Tom Rowe and he will partner fellow Kiwi Mark Abbott to round out the tight five.

The loose-forwards receive a shake up with Warren-Vosayaco’s vacant spot taken by Toshitaka Tokunaga. Amanaki Mafi, who was close to the best player on the pitch last weekend, will also sit out the Brumbies fixture. Regular Sunwolf Ben Gunter, who just this week was deemed ineligible for Japan selection this year, will take his spot.

Jamie Booth returns to the starting side to take over from Shigeno. Other changes in the backs include Jason Emery shifting forward to centre and Semisi Masirewa taking over at fullback with Tongan-born Hosea Saumaki coming into the starting side on the left wing.

The forwards will feel the losses of Thompson and Warren-Vosayaco in particular, who have been some of the Sunwolves’ best performing players this season.

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Besting the Brumbies would have been a tough ask for the Sunwolves will a full strength team but few will give them a chance now with so many of their top players unavailable.

The Brumbies are on track for the final but can’t afford to slip up, with so many teams chomping at their feet. The Sunwolves, on the other hand, need to secure one more win this season to match last year’s effort of three victories.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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