Golden Lions of South Africa humiliated Sunwolves of Japan 94-7 Saturday in Johannesburg for a record Super Rugby winning margin this season and the second biggest ever. The 14-try massacre began in the sixth minute when scrum-half Ross Cronje scored and ended during the first minute of additional time as winger Ruan Combrinck completed a … Read more
Jaguares of Argentina snapped a four-match losing streak with a come-from-behind 46-39 victory over Sunwolves of Japan Saturday in a Super Rugby try fest. The hosts turned a 39-27 deficit 14 minutes from time into a seven-point victory thanks to tries from Matias Alemanno, Agustin Creevy and Matias Moroni. Jaguares scored seven tries and Sunwolves … Read more
Sunwolves winger Jamie-Jerry Taulagi was banned for five weeks Monday after pleading guilty to a dangerous tackle during the weekend’s tense Super Rugby loss to the Waikato Chiefs. Taulagi was shown a red card for a shoulder charge targeting the head of Chiefs outside back Shaun Stevenson in the dying moments of the match in … Read more
New Zealand is not to blame for the problems that are forcing Australia to axe one of its five Super Rugby teams, New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew said on Monday. Amid anger and finger-pointing on the Australian side of the Tasman over the decision announced Sunday, Tew admitted Super Rugby over-reached by expanding to … Read more
Two South African teams and one from Australia will be axed from the 2018 Super Rugby competition, governing body SANZAAR said on Sunday. The current 18-team competition will be streamlined to a three conference, 15-team format with five teams from New Zealand, four from Australia, four from South Africa, one from Japan and one from … Read more
Italy and Scotland will play a test match in Singapore June 10 as the city-state seeks to establish itself as a stopover for nations bound for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The two Six Nations sides will make the stopover en route to Fiji and Australia for another series of matches, rugby officials … Read more
Springbok great Joel Stransky on Tuesday urged SANZAAR to stop delaying and unveil its revamped Super Rugby format, saying the governing body needed to make tough decisions and stand by them. Stransky said uncertainty had engulfed the southern hemisphere club competition since the governing body announced early last month that a shake-up was imminent without … Read more
Waikato Chiefs centre Jonathan Faauli was suspended for four weeks Monday over a high tackle during his team’s win over the Northern Bulls on the weekend, governing body SANZAAR said. Faauli was cited for a dangerous tackle on Jan Serfontein in the 27th minute of the 28-12 victory in Hamilton on Saturday. The 21-year-old was … Read more
The table-topping Waikato Chiefs face a “pretty rigorous review” after struggling to beat the Melbourne Rebels who led a revival of the lesser lights in round four of Super Rugby. The Chiefs have 19 points out of a maximum 20 from the first four rounds, but coach Dave Rennie was not impressed with the way … Read more
Northern Bulls of South Africa fared better with 14 men than 15 when defeating Sunwolves of Japan 34-21 on Friday in a lively Super Rugby match in Pretoria. Leading 17-14 at half-time, the home team were reduced to seven forwards from the opening minute of the second half when flanker Reinaldo Bothma was red-carded. The … Read more
The yellow-carding of Takuma Asahara proved costly for the Japanese Sunwolves as they lost 38-31 to the Central Cheetahs of South Africa in Super Rugby Saturday. The replacement prop was sin-binned after 65 minutes for a second offence in quick succession with the visitors clinging to a 31-30 lead at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. … Read more
Defending champions Wellington Hurricanes prepare to unleash their big guns this weekend but the pressure is on Super Rugby’s lesser lights amid talk of slimming down the 18-team competition. Governing body SANZAAR meet next week to discuss how to tackle Super Rugby’s unwieldy conference structure, exhausting travel schedules and lopsided contests which are now sprawled … Read more
A rampant Wellington Hurricanes began the defence of their Super Rugby title by pulverising Japan’s Sunwolves 83-17 on Saturday, scoring 13 tries in an embarrassingly lopsided game. Ardie Savea, Vince Aso and Michael Fatialofa all crashed over twice in the Tokyo sunshine as the visitors threatened to break a slew of records against a shambolic … Read more
Sunwolves coach Filo Tiatia said Thursday that the Japanese side have no reason to feel pressure this season after a chastening first year in Super Rugby. The Tokyo-based franchise won just one of 15 games under New Zealander Mark Hammett in 2016, while former Japan coach Eddie Jones called them “embarrassing” after a 92-17 mauling … Read more
A new Super Rugby season kicks off this week with bosses pledging to tackle its unwieldy conference structure, exhausting travel schedules and lopsided contests. There will be a first fixture in Samoa in June, meaning the 2017 Super Rugby season will now straddle 17 time zones and four continents. The competition will retain the much-criticised … Read more