Super Rugby: Waratahs beat the Sunwolves in Tokyo

A helter-skelter game in tough conditions but NSW romps away with bonus-point win over the Sunwolves.

Michael Hooper of the Waratahs (L) hands off Jaba Bregvadze of the Sunwolves.

It was a helter-skelter game in gusty conditions but the Waratahs always looked too strong for the Sunwolves in Tokyo and eventually the scoreline reflected that fact as NSW romped away for a 50-29 bonus point win in Super Rugby this afternoon.

The Tahs, with a howling breeze at their back, opened up a commanding 37-17 lead at the break and already the signs were that the Japanese side simply could not handle Taqele Naiyaravoro in attack. The match was only six minutes old when fullback Bryce Hegarty unleased the giant winger in attack and he bounced off three defenders before passing back infield to Bernard Foley who sent halves partner Jake Gordon scampering over for a try.

It was the first impact of the giant Fijian-born Wallaby but hardly the last. The match statistics indicated he carried the ball more than 200m — an astonishing number — and much of the NSW game plan seemed to be built around getting the ball in his hands and waiting for the inevitable linebreaks. There were at least four of them.

Michael Little of the Sunwolves scores a try.

Michael Little, the son of former All Black centre Walter Little, scored an equalising try when he burst through the initial line of NSW defenders and, realising he was not held, got to his feet and lurched the remaining four metres to the line.

And when he broke from a lineout and beat the tackle of the otherwise excellent flanker Will Miller to run 70m before passing back inside for former Western Force lock Sam Wykes to score, it seemed the Sunwolves were back into the contest.

But they were no more than isolated and sporadic attacks while the Waratahs were hardly electrifying in attack, they certainly kept the pressure on. There was no better example of this that right on the stroke of halftime when Kurtley Beale probed around the edges of the Sunwolves defence before offloading a pass out of the back of his hand to Hegarty on the fly.

It was an unstoppable try and demonstrated yet again that for all the star appeal of Foley, Beale and Naiyarovoro, the man who seems to be bringing this backline together is Hegarty.

In the second half the Tahs managed the conditions well and, save for an aimless kick for winger Alex Newsome, mainly kept the ball in hand and forced the Sunwolves, who have conceded more tries than any other team in the competition, to defend.

In the end, it was two tries all in the second stanza as the Sunwolves showed commendable courage but at not stage did they get closer than 43-29 and it was appropriate when Naiyarovoro, who had started one attack with a bullocking run down the left flank, watched as the ball went all the way right and then back again to present him with an untroubled run to the corner.

He might have his limitations, the huge winger, and certainly Sunwolves winger Semisi Masirewa exposed a number of them as he turned Naiyarovoro inside out as he scored a 43rd minute try, but he was on the wing for one purpose, to terrorise the smaller Japanese defenders, and he certainly did that.

It wasn’t a match in which the forwards shone by locks Rob Simmons and Ned Hanigan performed solidly while the backrow of Michael wells, Miller and captain Michael Hooper — who tested referee Angus Gardiner’s patience one time too many and was sin binned in the 66th minute for a cynical foul — all put in a solid afternoon’s work.

More and more Beale is taking over at first receiver and dictating play and while he was guilty at time of infuriatingly running across field, he also set up his outside backs to great effect. More and more, Curtis Rona is starting to come to prominence while Lalakai Foketi certainly gave good value in attack in the second half.

The bonus point win now takes the Waratahs to 19 points, just one adrift of the Melbourne Rebels who have led the Australian conference from the outset but have fallen on tough times lately with losses to NSW and the Hurricanes.