Every wolf has his day: Japan’s Sunwolves end horror Super Rugby year by flooring Auckland Blues
Home side post only their second win of the campaign with 48-21 victory in Tokyo on Saturday
Japan’s Sunwolves stunned the visiting Auckland Blues 48-21 on Saturday to finish their second Super rugby season on a high note.
Boosted by a Timothy Lafaele hat-trick, the home side posted only their second win of the campaign, erasing a seven-point half-time deficit with a pulsating comeback as the New Zealanders faded badly in the blistering Tokyo heat.
The rampant Sunwolves, who won just one of 15 games in a chastening debut season in 2016, scored eight tries to three against an error-prone Blues side held scoreless in the second half.
Tries from James Parsons, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti and Michael Collins looked to have put the Blues in command before Keisuke Uchida capped a lightning attack to help keep the Sunwolves in touch at the break.
But from the moment Ryohei Yamanaka chased down a Kotaro Matsushima kick to score after 53 minutes, it was all Sunwolves.
Kaito Shigeno dived over as the floodgates opened, before Lafaele scored on a breakaway and completed his treble after charging down a Sam Nock kick close to the try line.