Former Petone flyhalf Cripps in Japanese Sunwolves squad

Above: Hayden Cripps playing for Wellington in 2010, with this year’s Melbourne Rebels co-captain Scott Fuflistaller on his shoulder. Photo by Lintott Photography.

Former Wellington College, Petone and Wellington Lions first five-eighth Hayden Cripps has been selected in the Japanese Sunwolves squad for next year’s Super Rugby competition.

The Sunwolves will head into their second Super Rugby season with a squad that head coach and former Wests Roosters, Wellington and Hurricanes No. 8 Filo Tiatia described as "totally different."

Tiatia, who was an assistant last season under Mark Hammett, will be in charge of a squad - initially of 36 -  that shows a number of changes from the one that endured a tough debut season in the competition.

"In reality we are starting again. There's a new coaching staff (that will be named later this week) and a new make-up of players. It's really a changing of the guard," he told Kyodo News after the press conference at a Tokyo hotel that also saw the new playing jerseys unveiled.

Cripps was a familiar name in Wellington club rugby between 2009-11, making 33 starts for Petone, all but one in the number 10 jersey. Cripps was at Petone's helm when they co-won the 2009 Swindale Shield, the club’s most recent major club rugby competition win.

He also played for the Wellington Lions over the same time, making his NPC debut against the Tasman Makos, before moving across Cook Strait to play in Tasman and then heading to Japan.

Cripps will all qualify for the Brave Blossoms by 2019 under World Rugby's current rules of three years' residency.

Born and raised in Wellington’s Northern Suburbs, Cripps attended Newlands College in his first year of secondary school in 2004, before moving to Wellington College for his final four years from 2005-2008. Once at Wellington College his carrer crossed paths with Lima Sopoaga and Michael Hobbs, both going on to play professional rugby.

He was first five-eighth in the Hurricanes Schools side that won the 2008 National U18 final and then helped guide that team to victory over Australia Schools.
 
He joined Petone from school, making his Premier debut for Petone at the start of 2009, kicking six conversions and a penalty in his first Swindale Shield match and scoring a hat trick of tries in his sixth start against Tawa several weeks later, following an initial injury layoff for shoulder surgery.

As was the case last season, the Sunwolves will only have three weeks and one preseason game to prepare for their opener, which sees them play the Hurricanes in Tokyo on 25 February.

"We will be playing the defending champions, a team with 22 years of tribalism and understanding of the culture," said Tiatia, who played 57 times for the Hurricanes and is a former Billy Wallace Best and Fairest winner in Wellington club rugby. 

The Sunwolves Squad is:

Forwards - Keita Inagaki, Masataka Mikami, Koki Yamamoto, Takeshi Kizu, Takeshi Hino, Shota Horie, Takuma Asahara, Heiichiro Ito, Koo Ji-Won, Hitoshi Ono, Kyosuke Kajikawa, Shinya Makabe, Liaki Moli, Willie Britz, Ed Quirk, Uwe Helu, Yoshitaka Tokunaga, Shuhei Matsuhashi, Malgene Ilaua, Yuhimaru Mimura

Backs - Keisuke Uchida, Takahiro Ogawa, Fumiaki Tanaka, Kaito Shigeno, Yuki Yatomi, Harumichi Tatekawa, Hikaru Tamura, Yu Tamura, Hayden Cripps, Teruya Goto, Kenki Fukuoka, Timothy Lafaele, Derek Carpenter, Yasutaka Sasakura, Kotaro Matsushima, Riaan Viljoen