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- This is only the second Super Rugby encounter between the Sunwolves and the Highlanders, the side from Dunedin winning the first meeting in Round 9, 2017, by a score of 40-15.
- The Sunwolves are still chasing their first victory at home in Super Rugby 2019 (L5), they’ve never lost more than five games in a row on their own turf.
- The Highlanders have lost their last four away games, they’ve not lost more consecutive games on the road since a run of eight such defeats spread across 2012 and 2013.
- The Sunwolves (95%) and Highlanders (89%) boast the best goal kicking success rates in Super Rugby this year, the Sunwolves missing just two shots at goal in total and the Highlanders missing just four.
- Semisi Masirewa (Sunwolves) gained 148 metres in Round 10, over 40 metres more than the next best player last weekend (Rieko Ioane – 105).
The Sunwolves have played the Highlanders just once before in Super rugby and the Highlanders won that match.
The final score in that match was Sunwolves 15 Highlanders 40 and the match was played at Invercargill.
This weekend the match will be played in Tokyo and as they have only met once before and that was in New Zealand this will be the first time that the Highlanders have played in Japan.
This season the Sunwolves have played 5 matches at home (Tokyo and Singapore included) and they have yet to win.
Against New Zealand sides the Sunwolves have played three matches and won one. They beat the Chiefs but lost to the Blues and Hurricanes.
Average score: Sunwolves 15 Highlanders 40
Last result
Sat, 22 Apr 2017 Sunwolves 15-40 Highlanders @Invercargill
Sunwolves overall record against the Highlanders
Played 1, Wins 0, Losses 1 , Draws 0
Teams
Sunwolves
15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Gerhard Van den Heever, 13 Josh Timu, 12 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Hendrik Tui, 7 Dan Pryor (captain), 6 Grant Hattingh, 5 Luke Thompson, 4 Mark Abbott, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Pauliasi Manu
Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Alex Woonton, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Tom Rowe, 20 Ben Gunter, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Jason Emery
Highlanders
15 Matt Faddes, 14 Sio Tomkinson, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 James Lentjes, 6 Luke Whitelock (captain), 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Josh Dickson, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Bryn Gatland, 23 Dillon Hunt
Match Officials and details
Date : Friday 26 April
Venue : Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo
Kick Off local: 19:00
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant Ref 1:Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2:Shuhei Kubo
TMO : Minoru Fuji
