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Sunwolves

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Sunwolves
UnionJapan Rugby Football Union
Founded2015
Disbanded1 June 2020
LocationTokyo, Japan
Ground(s)Chichibunomiya Stadium, Tokyo (most games)
Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong
Singapore Sports Hub, Singapore
Most capsTakuma Asahara (43)
Top scorerHayden Parker (248)
Most triesSemisi Masirewa (13)
League(s)Super Rugby
20205th (Australian Conference)
15th (overall) (season abandoned)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
sunwolves.or.jp/en/
Union website
jrfu.org

The Sunwolves (Japanese: サンウルブズ) – previously known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves for sponsorship reasons – were a professional rugby union team and Japan's representative team in SANZAAR's international Super Rugby competition. The team was based in Tokyo, Japan, but also played some home matches in Singapore. They made their debut in Super Rugby in 2016. In March 2019, it was announced that 2020 would be the final season for the Sunwolves, after failing to negotiate a contract due to financial considerations.[1]

With the suspension of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Sunwolves being declined entry into the replacement Super Rugby AU competition in Australia due to various factors, the team officially dissolved on 1 June 2020.[2]

History

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Inclusion in Super Rugby

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Since its launch in 1996, the SANZAR-organised Super Rugby competition (previously known as Super 12 and Super 14) was limited to teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2011, it was announced that SANZAR would expand its international Tri Nations competition to include Argentina, which resulted in that competition being rebranded as The Rugby Championship.[3] This led to rumours that Argentina would also seek to have teams included in the Super Rugby competition[4][5] and SANZAR confirmed that they would explore expansion to other regions in future. However, since SANZAR sold the existing Super Rugby package to its broadcasters for the period 2011–15, it meant that no changes to the format would be permitted until the 2016 season.[6]

In 2013, SANZAR CEO Greg Peters announced that Super Rugby would be expanded from the 2016 season onwards, adding that South African franchise the Southern Kings would be one of the expansion teams.[7] In early 2014, SANZAR confirmed that Super Rugby would be increased from 15 to 18 teams starting from the 2016 season, with Argentine side Jaguares getting one of the additional spots. It was confirmed that both Argentina and the 18th team would participate in the South African Conference.[8]

Asia emerged as the preferred destination for the final licence and Japan and Singapore emerged as the main contenders to get the franchise.[9] With a number of factors counting in Japan's favour – such as their domestic professional league (the Top League) increasingly being able to attract big-name foreign players, the country being awarded the hosting of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the Japan national team breaking into the top ten of the World Rugby rankings for the first time in their history in 2014[10] – they were subsequently granted the licence for the 18th franchise in October 2014[11] – with an agreement reached that Singapore would host three of their home matches each season at the Singapore Sports Hub.[12] The new expanded format and three new teams were formally approved by the SANZAR Executive Committee in November 2014.[13]

In April 2015, the JRFU established a corporation called Japan Super Rugby Association that would manage the operations of the team. A number of key appointments were also made; Yoshitaka Tashiro was appointed as chairman, Yuichi Ueno as the CEO and on the playing side, the Japan national team's head coach Eddie Jones was appointed as the director of rugby for the team.[14] In May 2015, a website was launched to ask fans for team name suggestions.

However, several doubts were raised against Japan's ability to set up the team on time. In August 2015, Eddie Jones announced that he would leave his role as director of rugby amid speculation linking him to the vacant Stormers head coach position.[15] Subsequent media reports stated that governing body SANZAR were exploring alternative plans for the 2016 Super Rugby competition which excluded the Japanese team,[16] but the JRFU commented shortly after, confirming that they have met SANZAR's requirements by contracting players and other personnel by their end-of-August deadline.[17][18] The validity of the player list submitted was questioned, with many players included not "generally associated with the national team". There were also suggestions that Top League teams requested that their players' appearances be limited in Super Rugby and that Top League matches would be prioritised.[19]

However, they were included in the Super Rugby fixture list that came out on 28 September 2015[20][21] and on 5 October 2015, it was announced that the team would be known as the Sunwolves.[22]

Name

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The black version of the Sunwolves logo following their sponsorship deal with HITO-Communications.

In May 2015, a website was launched to ask fans for team name suggestions. This was initially scheduled to be revealed at the end of July 2015, before being postponed to August.[23] On 5 October 2015, it was announced that the team would be known as the Sunwolves.[22] This name was chosen from 3,320 entries[24] and is a combination of the "Land of the Rising Sun" and the wolf, which was chosen to represent bravery, strength and an ethos of teamwork. The team's logo was also launched on the same date.

On 15 January 2016, the Sunwolves announced that they would be known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves following a sponsorship agreement.[25]

Future

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In March 2019, the Japanese Rugby Football Union announced the 2020 season would be the Sunwolves' last in Super Rugby after failing to negotiate a contract to play after that year for financial reasons.[26]

Season summaries

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The following table summarises the Sunwolves' results in Super Rugby:

Sunwolves Super Rugby seasons
Season Played Won Drawn Lost PF PA Pos Coach Captain
2016 15 1 1 13 293 627 18 of 18 Mark Hammett Shota Horie
2017 15 2 0 13 315 671 17 of 18 Filo Tiatia Ed Quirk
2018 15 3 0 13 404 664 15 of 15 Jamie Joseph
Tony Brown 		Willie Britz
Yutaka Nagare
2019 16 2 0 14 294 584 15 of 15 Tony Brown Michael Little
Craig Millar
2020 6 1 0 5 101 292 15 of 15 Naoya Okubo Keisuke Moriya
Jake Schatz

Legend: PF = Points for, PA = Points against, Pos = Log position.

Kit history

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The Sunwolves have played in the following kits since their inception:

Sunwolves kits
Season Home Away
2016
2016 home kit
2016 away kit
2017
2017 home kit
2017 away kit

Stadium

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Sunwolves home games are split between Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, Japan and Singapore National Stadium, Singapore.

Tokyo, Japan Kallang, Singapore
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Singapore National Stadium
Capacity: 27,188 Capacity: 55,000

Staff

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Final squad

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The squad for the 2020 Super Rugby season:[27]

Sunwolves Super Rugby squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

Fullbacks

(cc) Denotes team co-captains, Bold denotes internationally capped, TS denotes a training squad player, ST denotes a short-term signing.


Coaching staff

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Jamie Joseph giving a speech at a Sunwolves match on 12 May 2018

The following coaching team was appointed for the 2020 Super Rugby season:[28]

Name Title
Naoya Okubo Head coach
Keisuke Sawaki Coaching coordinator
Nathan Grey Technical Director
Yoshikazu Tamura Assistant coach (scrum)
Chihiro Ota Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

List of head coaches

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Coach Period G W D L % Honours Ref.
Mark Hammett 2016 15 1 1 13 006.67 [29][30][31]
Filo Tiatia 2017 15 2 0 13 013.33 [32][33][34]
Jamie Joseph 2018 16 3 0 13 018.75 [35][36][37]
Tony Brown 2019 16 2 0 14 012.50 [38]
Naoya Okubo 2020 6 1 0 5 016.67 [39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sunwolves axed from Super Rugby after 2020 season". Rugby World. 22 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Sunwolves won't compete in Super Rugby AU". Rugby.com.au. June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. ^ ""The Rugby Championship" to replace Tri Nations". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Super Rugby may accept Argentinian teams in 2016". Guardian. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Pichot: Argentina in Super Rugby is a no brainer". SuperXV. 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Super Rugby going global". Sydney Daily Telegraph. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  7. ^ "SANZAR boss Greg Peters confirms South Africa will get a sixth Super Rugby franchise from 2016". Herald Sun. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Search begins for 18th Super Rugby team" (Press release). SANZAR. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Singapore and Japan still in a race for 18th team". SuperXV. 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Brave Blossoms break into the top ten". Asian Rugby Football Union. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Super Rugby: Japan chosen to host new franchise from 2016". BBC. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Japan's entry into Super Rugby is 'dream come true'". JRFU. 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Japan and Argentina officially join Super Rugby" (Press release). SANZAR. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Eddie Jones lands Super Rugby role". SANZAR. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  15. ^ "Japan rugby coach Jones confirms departure after World Cup". Japan Today. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Super Rugby set to cut Japanese club from 2016 competition after concerns it won't field side". The Daily telegraph. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Japan working to get Super Rugby tasks completed, JRFU executive says". Japan Times. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Formation of Super Rugby team complete". The Yomiuri Shimbun. The Japan News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  19. ^ "Japan's Super Rugby participation remains uncertain". Kyodo. The Japan Times. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Draw released for new era of Super Rugby" (Press release). SANZAR. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  21. ^ "2016 Draw". SANZAR. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Super Rugby welcomes the Sunwolves". SANZAR. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Name-the-team Contest (Super Rugby from the 2016 Season)". JRFU. 29 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  24. ^ "Japan eyes World Cup heroes for Super Rugby's Sunwolves". The Japan Times. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Super Rugby Japanese Team SUNWOLVES Team Name & Logo Announcement "HITO-Communications SUNWOLVES"" (Press release). Sunwolves. 15 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Sunwolves axed from Super Rugby after 2020 season". Rugby World. 22 March 2019.
  27. ^ "2020Squad". Sunwolves. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  28. ^ "2020Coach". Sunwolves. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  29. ^ "Mark Hammett named coach of Japan's Super Rugby Sunwolves". The Guardian. 21 December 2015.
  30. ^ "Japan reveals Sunwolves roster; Hammett named as coach". The Japan Times. 21 December 2015.
  31. ^ "Mark Hammett named coach of Japan's Super 15 team". Sky Sports. 21 December 2015.
  32. ^ "Rugby: Former All Black named as Sunwolves head coach". The New Zealand Herald. 13 September 2016.
  33. ^ "Filo Tiatia replaces Mark Hammett as Sunwolves head coach". Sky Sports. 14 September 2016.
  34. ^ "Tiatia named new Sunwolves coach". SBS. 14 September 2016.
  35. ^ "Joseph replaces Tiatia as head coach of Sunwolves". The Japan Times. 29 September 2017.
  36. ^ "Rugby: Joseph takes over from Tiatia as head coach of Sunwolves". Kyodo News. 29 September 2017.
  37. ^ "Japan coach Jamie Joseph will also lead the Sunwolves in Super Rugby". Fox Sports Australia. 29 September 2017.
  38. ^ "Tony Brown Appointed as Head Coach of HITO-Communications SUNWOLVES" (Press release). Sunwolves. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  39. ^ "スーパーラグビー2020シーズン ヘッドコーチ決定のお知らせ" (Press release) (in Japanese). Sunwolves. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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