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Japanese artist paints Sunwolves as fat rugby-playing penguins
By Calum Henderson
These are the best works of rugby art the world has ever seen.
The HITO-Com Sunwolves had a stopover in Auckland last week on their way to play the Crusaders in Christchurch. Despite the stormy weather, they decided to head out for some sightseeing.
But as their bus cruised along scenic Tamaki Drive, it was forced to make an unscheduled stop – a car had broken down in the middle of the road.
The Sunwolves players disembarked and surrounded the stricken vehicle like a swarm of ants, safely and efficiently shunting it to the side of the road. A video of the team averting a potentially nasty traffic snarl-up was shared on Twitter, and from there quickly went viral, picked up by news outlets around the world.
Now the feel-good moment has been immortalised in a watercolour illustration, depicting the Sunwolves players as a team of fat penguins.
The masterpiece is the work of a Japanese artist called Yuko Inaba. A Google Translation of Inaba's website, Nadegata Penguin, explains the inspiration behind the extremely niche body of work. "It would be fun if a fat penguin was doing rugby," the artist writes.
Indeed, this is not the first time a Sunwolves player has been depicted as a fat penguin. In recent weeks Inaba has shared drawings of flyhalf Yuu Tamura and prop Keita Inagaki on Twitter, and there is a drawing of lock Hitoshi Ono holding a bottle of sake on Instagram.
Even some international stars have received the Nadegata Penguin treatment. ("Nadegata means sloping shoulders," Inaba explains on Instagram.) Scotland's Six Nations hero Greig Laidlaw – "the best scrum half in the world" – is a particular favourite. The All Blacks' haka has also inspired an artwork, in which the All Blacks are drawn as rockhopper penguins.
The Sunwolves shared Inaba's illustration on Twitter this morning. It is now taking on a viral life of its own.
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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