Early Bird ticket sales for the Mitsubishi Estate Super Rugby match in Hong Kong will close this Sunday, 22 April, 2018.

Sunday ends the preferential ticket price for punters keen to experience one of the world’s most exciting rugby competitions and watch Asia’s sole Super Rugby franchise, the Hito-Communications Sunwolves, take on South Africa’s DHL Stormers on 19 May.

To date, more than 2,500 tickets have been sold under early bird pricing for the first ever Super Rugby league match to be held in Hong Kong at the Mong Kok Stadium on Saturday, 19 May, nearly half of the total 6,000 seat capacity.

In only their third Super Rugby campaign and under first-year coach Jamie Joseph, (also the coach of Japan), the Sunwolves are unveiling a group of exciting new faces balanced by some of Japan’s top stars from their inspirational 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign and a coterie of experienced Super Rugby campaigners like New Zealanders Craig Millar, Hayden Parker and Robbie Robinson, all of whom played for Joseph (alongside Japan scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka) at Highlanders.

Sunwolves are showing steady improvement across the season so far, but have yet to notch their first win, after running close with a bonus point loss against the Reds in week one and a 2-point defeat at the hands of the Lions 40-38 in week five.  Week eight’s 24-10 loss to the Blues was another close run affair, but signs of promise are emerging from Joseph’s young side as they gain experience on the Super Rugby stage.

Joseph has focused his side’s efforts around a better defensive showing in this season’s campaign and that emphasis has shown early results with Sunwolves seventh in Super Rugby in tackle percentage (82.9%). 

South African flanker Pieter Labuschagne has also added some spine to the defence and is presently ranked fourth in tackling across all Super Rugby players with 89 tackles won, four off the league-leading pace of 93 set by Pablo Motare (Jaguares) and Lions’ Franco Mostert.

With the match serving as one of three Sunwolves “home” games played outside of Japan each season, the Hong Kong Rugby Union is creating a special reserved seating area, the Wolfpack Stand, for local Sunwolves supporters.

The Wolfpack stand will be the best place to cheer on some of the ten veterans of Japans’ historic Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign, (when they beat South Africa in the opening weekend’s play, widely regarded as the biggest upset in rugby history), lining up for the Sunwolves, including Japan captain Michael Leitch.

Amongst the RWC 2015 veterans in the Sunwolves side are Leitch, hooker Shota Horie, prop Keita Inagaki, lock Shinya Makabe, scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka, fly-half Harumichi Tatekawa, centres Yu Tamura and Kotaro Matsushima and outside backs Kenki Fukuoka and Akihita Yamada.

One player will be making his Hong Kong debut in Sunwolves co-captain Yutaka Nagare.

“I am looking forward to playing in Hong Kong for the first time,” he said.

“It is very important to build our fan base in Asian countries such as Hong Kong by playing an exciting brand of rugby. We want to attract as many people as possible so when it comes to the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year, people from Hong Kong will come and support the Japan team. That would be great,” exclaimed Nagare.

The Mitsubishi Estate Super Rugby match will be played in the 6,000-seat Mong Kok Stadium.  Through Sunday, uncovered general admission seating is priced at just HK$199 with kids (aged 12 and under) uncovered seating priced at just HK$100.

Covered general admission seating prices are reduced to HK$349 through Sunday with individual hospitality tickets, (inclusive of covered seating and free flow food and beverage throughout the match), set at HK$738.

Tickets for the Wolfpack fan zone are just HK$249 through 22 April, while Wolfpack stand youth tickets are HK$150.  After Sunday, all ticket categories will be at full price. Tickets can be purchased via Ticketflap (https://www.ticketflap.com/superrugby2018).