Super Rugby News

[Tim]

@Kiwidom Keep pumping the good oil.

[Kiwidom]

@Tim Pretty sure Bryn Gatland was there also this week. I guess with Fekitoa and Sopoaga on extended leave they are there as cover on short term contracts

[Daffy Jaffy]

That's interesting re: Gatland. I thought I spied him in this Blues training video posted Dec 8.
At min - 1:40 getting up behind Nanai who is hammering a tyre then at min - 1:52 last man at the end of a floor crawl?

[Kiwidom]

@Daffy-Jaffy You may be right with that video being him. Check out the Highlanders Facebook page tho, (am having trouble uploading the photo on here) bottom left is Little and beside him it looks like Bryn Gatland

[Stargazer]

@Daffy-Jaffy @Kiwidom Isn't that Trainor behind Nanai?

[KiwiMurph]

@Stargazer That is not Trainor. Does look like Bryn Gatland.

I see Caleb Clarke (Eroni's son, NZ Schools centre) is being kept around the Blues environment, having him alongside Blues to speak to U17 Blues players.

[African Monkey]

@Stargazer Deffinitely Bryn Gatland

[KiwiMurph]

Sunwolves squad to be announced later today.

Tanaka is in the squad.

[Unco]

@KiwiMurph said in Super Rugby News: Injuries:

Sunwolves squad to be announced later today.

Tanaka is in the squad.

For some dumb reason, I only just realised he's not in the Landers squad. Geez, Hammington and Renton as Aaron Smith's backups is a bit rough, they're gonna have to hope Aaron Smith both comes back into form and stays fit. He had a bit of Tiger Woods syndrome on the EOYT but hopefully he recovers over the Summer.

[African Monkey]

@KiwiMurph Good to see. Hopefully more of their internationals head back there.

[Stargazer]

[Stargazer]

This is the Sunwolves squad including caps (27 of the 36 players are Japanese internationals):

Forwards:

Masataka Mikami (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 14 caps), Keita Inagaki (Panasonic Wild Knights, 10 caps), Koki Yamamoto (Yamaha Jubilo, 1 cap), Heiichiro Ito (Yamaha Jubilo, 0 cap), Koo Jiwon (Takushoku Univ.), Takuma Asahara (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 14 caps), Koki Yamamoto (Yamaha Jubilo, 8 caps), Shota Horie (Panasonic Wild Knights, 12 caps), Takeshi Kizu (Kobelco Steelers, 12 caps), Takeshi Hino (Yamaha Jubilo, 0 cap), Hitoshi Ono (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 12 caps), Shinya Makabe (Suntory Sungoliath, 6 caps), Liaki Moli (Auckland, 38 caps), Kyosuke Kajikawa (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 0 cap), Eddie Quirk (?, 53 caps), Yuhimaru Mimura (Yamaha Jubilo, 0 cap), Shuhei Matsuhashi (Ricoh Black Rams, 0 cap), Uwe Helu (Yamaha Jubilo, 0 cap), Malgene Ilaua (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 0 cap), Yoshitaka Tokunaga (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 0 cap), Willie Britz (NTT Shining Arcs, 24 caps)

Backs:

Fumiaki Tanaka (Panasonic Wild Knights, 43 caps), Kaito Shigeno (NEC Green Rockets, 11 caps), Yuki Yatomi (Yamaha Jubilo, 10 caps), Keisuke Uchida (Panasonic Wild Knights, 0 cap), Takahiro Ogawa (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 0 cap), Harumichi Tatekawa (Kubota Spears, 13 caps), Yu Tamura (NEC Green Rockets, 15 caps), Hikaru Tamura (Toshiba Brave Lupus, 0 cap),  Hayden Cripps (Tokyo Gas, 0 cap), Derek Carpenter (Suntory Sungoliath, 12 caps), Timothy Lafaele (Coca-Cola Red Sparks, 0 cap), Kenki Fukuoka (Panasonic Wild Knights, 0 cap), Teruya Goto (NEC Green Rockets, 0 cap),  Riaan Viljoen (NTT-Docomo Red Hurricanes, 64 caps), Kotaro Matsushima (Suntory Sungoliath, 4 caps), Yasutaka Sasakura (Panasonic Wild Knights, 9 caps)

source: http://www.japonrugby.net/l-effectif-2017-des-sunwolves-devoile-.php

[Bovidae]

I wonder how many Japanese players turn down the opportunity to play for the Sunwolves or aren't released from their club? Was a player like Yamashita considered?

[Crucial]

Looks to me like the Sunwolves are being put to good use to bolster the depth of Japan rugby pre the RWC. Good on them as I'm sure a bit of Yen could have been thrown around to scoop up a load of fringe Super players from other countries but they have resisted that temptation.

[pukunui]

What has happened to Sa'u. Doesn't seem to be in the Blues squad (rightly) and not in the Sunwolves.

[Stargazer]

The rumours about Cruden going to Montpellier are becoming stronger.

The latest edition of Midi-Olympique (Midol) reports that he was in Montpellier last weekend to finalise the details of the deal.

(The same article mentions a possible move from Luke McAlister from Toulouse to La Rochelle.)

rugbyrama.fr,midi-olympique

Transferts : Wisniewski vers Toulon, Michalak veut rempiler

Le marché des numéros 10 connaît une effervescence. Jonathan Wisniewski devrait prendre la direction du Var en cas de descente de Grenoble. A Lyon, Frédéric Michalak veut continuer tandis que Aaron Cruden et...

[Bones]

Hayden Cripps! Who woulda thought.

[Billy Tell]

@Stargazer said in Super Rugby News: Injuries:

The rumours about Cruden going to Montpellier are becoming stronger.

The latest edition of Midi-Olympique (Midol) reports that he was in Montpellier last weekend to finalise the details of the deal.

(The same article mentions a possible move from Luke McAlister from Toulouse to La Rochelle.)

rugbyrama.fr,midi-olympique

Transferts : Wisniewski vers Toulon, Michalak veut rempiler

Le marché des numéros 10 connaît une effervescence. Jonathan Wisniewski devrait prendre la direction du Var en cas de descente de Grenoble. A Lyon, Frédéric Michalak veut continuer tandis que Aaron Cruden et...

"...avec la plus grande crainte..."

...faut pas exagérer quand même...

[Daffy Jaffy]

Sun wolves promo video!

[taniwharugby]

@Daffy-Jaffy haha, WTF is up with the first half of the ad...some marketing genius was high when he came up with that.