SINGAPORE — They struggled in their debut season of the Super Rugby competition this year, amassing just nine points — one win, one draw and 13 defeats — to finish last out of 18 teams in the overall standings.

But even with one year of experience under their belt, the HITO-Communications Sunwolves are expected to face a difficult time again in the coming season, as familiar problems such as a short pre-season and a hectic travel schedule continue to plague the Japan-based franchise.

As was the case last season, the Sunwolves’ pre-season preparations will begin only in early February as most of their players will be involved in the domestic Japanese league — the Top League — which ends in late January.

This is just slightly over a month before the Sunwolves open their Super Rugby campaign against defending champions the Hurricanes on Feb 25 — meaning the Japanese side will only have about two weeks to properly prepare for the season ahead.

This is a situation that Sunwolves head coach Filo Tiatia, who was promoted from assistant coach in September, acknowledges is not ideal.

“Unfortunately, because of the structure of our domestic league, our players don’t have the luxury of recuperating for as long as those in the other teams,” he said.

“So when the players come for pre-season, we’ll have to manage them well with regard to their well-being and assessment of their condition. But at least since a lot of them just finished the season, we won’t need to spend time and effort getting them match-fit.”

Tiatia added that their short pre-season meant that it would be a challenge establishing an understanding among the players ahead of their opening game. This is exacerbated by the Sunwolves heading into the campaign with 18 new players. The team unveiled their 36-man squad for the season yesterday.

“We have many different players and a fairly new management team this season, so it’s about getting them to align in one way and go forward as a group,” explained the 45-year-old former All Black.

“It’s an exciting challenge. It’s not going to be perfect, and we’re going to make lots of mistakes, but we’ve got some really good ideas in our planning to bring the group together to rise as one for the season.”

Another issue the Sunwolves will face is a hectic travel schedule that will see them fly some 130,000km to South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina during the season. They are also scheduled to play three home games — against the Kings (March 4), the Stormers (March 25) and the Sharks (May 20) — at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Tiatia says this means they will have to be smarter in managing the players during these long-distance travels. “We’re once again going to be the team who will be travelling the most this season. It is what it is, so we just have to be better at getting the players to recover,” he said.

“Things like managing the players’ sleep patterns when we travel to different time zones, and maximising the time we have while travelling by having meetings when we’re up in the air or at the airport. These are all lessons that we’ve learnt from last year’s experiences.”

While Tiatia remained coy on his team’s targets, he promised fans that they would give nothing less than 100 per cent, while also serving up a fast and exciting brand of rugby this coming season.

“We’re not the biggest team in the competition, and we know teams are going to try and come through us,” he said. “But we have our strengths as well — we want to play fast because we’re quick, and to play intelligently as well and exploit the spaces.

“We’re focused on preparing for every week in the best way we can, competing to the best of our abilities and having the desire to try to win every game.”

SUNWOLVES’ SUPER RUGBY TICKETING DETAILS (SINGAPORE MATCHES)

Adult: $60 (CAT 1), $30 (CAT 2)

Child (Aged 3 - 17): $35 (CAT 1), $15 (CAT 2)

Family Bundle: $80 (CAT 2)

Early Bird Promotion (CAT 1 tickets only): $50 (Adult), $30 (Child)

Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday (Dec 13) at 10am. They are available via www.sportshubtix.sg, 3158-7888, Sports Hub Tix Box Office and all SingPost outlets.