Sunwolves captain Jake Schatz says his team is trying to roll with the punches of a rollercoaster season as they face uncertainty about their schedule for the remainder of ther Super Ruby season.
The Sunwolves’ season was set to be somewhat tumultuous even before it began, with the final squad only thrown together weeks before the season after last year’s news the team would be axed from Super Rugby in 2021.
With the coronavirus outbreak, their fortunes have been thrown even further into disarray but captain Jake Schatz said they were making the most of spending time together.
“For me, it's one of those things, it's a bit like the ref in the game, it's out of your hands, it's not in your control,” he said.
“You can only deal with the cards you're dealt and at the moment, that's us we're on the road. The more you let it be a factor, the more it becomes a factor so for us we just turn up each week.”
The Sunwolves will spend at least another three weeks based in Australia, currently in Sydney, and there is the prospect that road trip could lengthen if the virus situation remains dire.
Already they have had two games relocated after a Japanese government decision to cancel all sporting events in the country until April 3.
Should the outbreak remain a concern, the Sunwolves could potentially spend their final Super Rugby season entirely on the road.
Schatz said while the players had not been tested for coronavirus, they underwent daily health checks and were confident there were no cases in the squad.
“No we haven't but we're pretty much (have our) temperatures (checked) every day,” he said
“We're on top of it, we stay in hotels, we're like everyone else really.”
While Schatz was trying to embrace the positives of a road trip, he admitted that the disappointment of the nomadic nature of their Super Rugby was compounded by the fact it would be their last.
“It's like anyone playing in front of our home crowd, people get around you, you can hear their call in the crowd and they're excited to be there, they wear the colours.
“For me, the fans mean a lot for us, we want to get out on the field now we're not at home and give them something to cheer about.”
The Sunwolves routinely pull big crowds when they play in Tokyo and Schatz said that would
“Everyone in this team's here for an opportunity,” he said.
“Whether it's for future or whatever, it's an advantage to come together as a team and play well together, for another opportunity and even we've got fantastic fans there in Tokyo, if there's anything you're going to play for it's that support.
“We played there, we had 20,000 people and when you run out in front of 20,000 people that's bigger crowds than anyone's getting.
“For us, if that's not motivation then I don't know what is.”
The Sunwolves stay in Sydney this week before travelling to Brisbane to take on the Crusaders on Saturday in a Sunworp Stadium double header.
