Sunwolves down Chiefs in historic victory

HAMILTON, New Zealand: The Sunwolves scored the most significant win of their brief Super Rugby life when a Gerhard van den Heever try sealed an historic 30-15 victory over the Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.

It is the first time the Tokyobased unit have won an away game and it left the 2012-2013 champions embarrassed as they remain winless after three rounds.

A year ago, the Chiefs thrashed the Sunwolves 61-10 as the Japanese side went through their first three seasons of Super Rugby with a woeful record and their future in the competition in doubt.

But they showed signs of progress when they went within a point of upsetting the NSW Waratahs last weekend, and against the Chiefs they stepped up another gear.

They led 23-3 at halftime and held on as the Chiefs tried to rally in the second half.

Sunwolves flyhalf Hayden Parker, who converted all three tries and added three penalties, described the victory as "awesome" and a confidence booster for the side.

"It was really nice to score some good tries in the first half. The second half was pretty ugly and it felt like the game went on forever but the boys hung in and I'm proud of the way we stuck it out to the end."

Chiefs scrum-half Brad Weber said his under-pressure side could not expect to win with the number of errors they committed.

"You're not going to win the game if you keep coughing up the ball. I think we coughed it up about 10 or 11 times," he said.