World Cup ‘helped and hindered’ Super Rugby’s Sunwolves, says Sanzaar boss

It has been a tough start to Super Rugby life for the Sunwolves and it might well get worse before it gets any better, according to Sanzaar boss Andy Marinos.

The Japanese franchise were beset with player and staff recruitment issues, with Eddie Jones stepping down even before starting as director of rugby, leading to a shortened pre-season and two defeats to start their campaign.

The second, a 32-31 loss in Singapore against the Cheetahs on Saturday, exposed their lack of squad depth – the scrum wilted badly under pressure as they let slip an 18-point lead.

Marinos, who took charge of the governing body earlier this year, said more could have been done to ensure the Sunwolves were ready for the southern hemisphere provincial competition but added that organisers Sanzaar would give the new Asian side all the help they required.

“From a planning and preparation perspective, 100 per cent it was a challenge given the [2015] World Cup and the changes that were happening within the Japanese Rugby Union,” he said in Singapore before the Cheetahs fixture.

“Everybody just turned their eyes to what was arguably the biggest World Cup we have had to date, to England, and locked everything out, so the preparations and the hard work that had to be done I think got put on the back burner a little bit.

“We can’t forget the significant impact the World Cup had in [Japan] ... but with that there is a caution that it’s going to be tough and that it could get worse, but I’m quietly confident they will pull through.”