The Sunwolves battled valiantly but ultimately suffered their second straight loss of the young Super Rugby season Saturday, defeated 31-30 by the New South Wales Waratahs in Tokyo.
A last-gasp drop goal attempt by Hayden Parker was all that stood between the home team and a win, but it flew wide in the stiff Tokyo breeze, sending a cry of angst around the healthy crowd at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.
Fleet-footed Wallabies superstar Israel Folau scored a double for the Waratahs, his fellow internationals Kurtley Beale and Jack Dempsey also crossing.
For the Sunwolves, Gerhard van den Heever answered with his own brace of tries and Tom Rowe also scored a five-pointer. Parker was excellent with the boot, kicking three penalties and three conversions.
Playing their second home game of the season, but the first in Tokyo, the Sunwolves started brightly, giving as good as they got in a competitive first half which they closed three points ahead.
After changing ends, however, the Waratahs — Australia Conference champions and semifinalists last year — showed their quality to sneak the win. The team's Wallabies platoon shone as they won for the first time this season and maintained their unbeaten record against the Sunwolves.
"Obviously, we are disappointed with the result but proud of the performance," acting head coach Scott Hansen said.
"We put ourselves in a position to win the game with that drop goal, we worked well in the second half to come from behind and we worked well into the wind also."
"I thought there was some good leadership from the group and I thought we played some really smart rugby in the second half at times and we were not quite rewarded like we could have been."
Waratahs captain Michael Hooper was full of praise for the Sunwolves, especially the forward pack which caused the Australian team's scrum big problems.
"I thought the Sunwolves put us under a lot of pressure from our turnover. They were able to move the ball to space, get in behind us," the ball-hawking flanker said.
The first highlight for the Sunwolves came on their own try line, Semisi Masirewa making a stunning try-saving defensive effort in which he came off his own wing to knock the ball out of Curtis Rona's grip as he dived for the left corner.
The Sunwolves converted their competitiveness into points thanks to an eighth-minute intercept by season debutant Ryoto Nakamura. The 27-year-old latched onto a wayward Bernard Foley pass on his defensive 22 and streaked downfield. He was eventually run down by the Waratahs' speedsters, but found van den Heever who touched down.