[2018 Super Rugby] Round 3: Sunwolves vs. Rebels (03/03/2018)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium​

Time: 06:15 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[Brigantine]

Will be interesting to see if Jamie Joseph sticks with his experimental selections here.

I get the sense the Rebels have also improved from last year, so this could be a banana skin if we take the same approach again. The Reds are simply not up to the grade and will be an automatic 10 points, but the Rebels are a different story.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Will be interesting to see if Jamie Joseph sticks with his experimental selections here.

I get the sense the Rebels have also improved from last year, so this could be a banana skin if we take the same approach again. The Reds are simply not up to the grade and will be an automatic 10 points, but the Rebels are a different story.

Looks like Joseph has ditched much of the experimenting and is fielding a more standard team...



In particular it's great to see Parker at 10 and Robinson at 15.

I can't say I'm too pleased with the lack of Japanese natives in the team, but at least they should put up a good fight against the Rebels.

 

[Zero]

Only 5 Japanese players starting, I thought including them in the competition was to help improve Japanese rugby, it's not going to happen by playing so few Japanese.

 

[Brigantine]

Oh come on guys, 15 of those guys are capped Japanese. The other 8 mercenaries are entirely reasonable. Except James Moore, I'm not sure what he brings to the table exactly.

Ideally, all those mercenaries will also be roped into playing Top League later this year. Over half of them do already. Raising the standard in the Top League is what will do the long term heavy lifting.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Instinctively it looks like a stronger selection for the Sunwolves compared to last week. This is the first fixture of the season they should desperately be looking to win. The Reds just dispatched the Brumbies, so I don't think Joseph will be underestimating the difficulty of picking up wins this season.

Hopefully Noguchi (young hope for future) and Tatekawa (experienced leader of the backs) get some serious game time as I'd start to become concerned if players like that aren't given regular exposure this season.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Seems that, as anticipated, cannibalising the Force has strengthened the other Oz sides in the short term. Also shows that Tiatia maybe didn't do such a bad job of coaching last year after all.

My prediction of four wins might already be a bit optimistic.

 

[Brigantine]

Yeah, with only 4 home games left for the Sunwolves this season, things are looking bleak. What a difference one game can make!