Tue, Jun 02, 2020 page16

• Sunwolves exit Super Rugby

  • AFP, TOKYO
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  Japan’s Sunwolves yesterday bowed out of Super Rugby as they failed to join an Australian offshoot of the tournament shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  The Sunwolves, who are being kicked out of Super Rugby at the end of the season, said Australian officials had told them they would not be able to take part.

  The series between Australia’s four Super Rugby teams — the Queensland Reds, the New South Wales Waratahs, the ACT Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels — along with the previously axed Western Force, is due to kick off on July 3.

  

  Michael Stolberg of the Sunwolves, front right, scores a try against the ACT Brumbies in their Super Rugby match in Woolongong, Australia, on March 6.

  Photo: AFP

  Super Rugby, which also includes teams from New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, has been suspended since March.

  “We are announcing that we have been told by the Australian rugby association officially that we are unable to participate in the competition,” a Sunwolves statement said.

  The decision ends a nearly five-year run in Super Rugby for the Sunwolves, who won only nine games in that time and were on the receiving end of some big defeats.

  The Tokyo-based side would have had to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Australia and they also faced problems in securing a permanent base for 12 weeks.

  They said they had consulted with Australia’s rugby authorities and government, but “we reached the conclusion that we will not be ready to join matches in Australia from July 3.”

  “We apologize to people who had been looking forward to the resumption of matches,” Sunwolves chief executive Yuji Watase said. “Following this decision, the Sunwolves’ time with Super Rugby, which has seen us participate for the past five seasons, will end. We are bitterly disappointed to conclude the season in this way, but we also feel honored to have participated in the best rugby competition.”

  The Sunwolves, who also played home matches in Singapore and Hong Kong, were introduced in 2016 to bring rugby to new markets, but governing body South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby was reluctant to bankroll the perennial wooden-spooners after Japan’s rugby board withdrew financial support.

  Rugby Australia interim chief executive Rob Clarke said that officials had been trying to work through “significant challenges” to field a Sunwolves team.

  “However, the reality is, given the time frame available, the team’s preparation for the competition would be severely compromised,” Clarke said in a statement. “All parties agree that despite our collective efforts and desire to see the Sunwolves take part in the competition, under the current circumstances their participation will not be feasible.”

  The Sunwolves’ exit comes despite the success of last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan and the lure of Japan’s Top League, which has attracted a series of marquee players from overseas.

  New Zealand, like Australia, is also planning a domestic competition, kicking off on Saturday next week, to fill the hole left by Super Rugby’s postponement.
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