World Cup snippets: blood, sweat and tears in Japan
Nyakane’s tournament in tatters, Cheika moans about ref and Boks get support from unexpected fans
The first weekend of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) has delivered drama‚ skill and tension. Here are a few of the stories.
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Bok tighthead Trevor Nyakane’s RWC may be over if his body language is anything to go by after he hobbled off against the All Blacks. Nyakane suffered a calf muscle injury against Japan two weeks ago and despite being cleared to play against New Zealand in Yokohama‚ only lasted 19 minutes before being assisted from the field.
He was in tears on the sideline and coach Rassie Erasmus admitted the injury looks “fairly serious”.
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It just would not be a Test involving Australia if coach Michael Cheika did not have something to whinge about despite his side’s 39-21 win over Fiji in Sapporo.
The Wallaby coach moaned that officials were unfairly targeting main breakdown weapon David Pocock.
“I heard his [Pocock’s] name mentioned between them on the commentary at least half a dozen times in their own chat‚ when he hadn’t even been involved in a ruck. I’m not sure what the focus is on him‚” he said. Cheika sidestepped the issue of a blatant shoulder charge by wing Reece Hodge on Fiji flank Peceli Yoto.
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Heat and humidity have been issues leading up to the start of the RWC‚ but at the weekend the threat of a typhoon also created problems.
Two fan parks in Kumamoto and Fukuoka had to be closed on Saturday as typhoon Tapah approached the west of the country and headed for the northern island of Hokkaido.
The typhoon could bring high winds and heavy rain to the southern island of Kyushu on Sunday evening and on Monday, World Rugby said.
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In the days leading up to the clash against New Zealand‚ two of the world’s most prominent sportsmen came out in support of the Springboks.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic posted a video of himself offering his support to the Boks followed by National Football League legend Tom Brady doing to same from the US. Brady’s final punt of “Go Bokke” sounded more like he was saying the name of prop Lizo “Gqoboka”, but it was appreciated.
US hooker James Hilterbrand is nothing if not confident before his side’s opener against England.
The fiery front-ranker said: “Those guys don’t deserve to be on the field with us. That’s the way that we have to think about it. We’re not some subservient rugby nation that doesn’t deserve to be on the pitch and can’t win.”
Hilterbrand was not done‚ warning the US are now a properly professional unit.
“To go from what was a high school rugby paddock to the Olympic training centre in Colorado Springs is indicative of the level of professionalism that’s come to the game‚” he said.
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Japan wing Kotaro Matsushima joined fellow African Lappies Labuschagne as try scorers for Japan in the opening match of the tournament against Russia.
Matsushima has a Zimbabwean mother and Japanese father and was enrolled at the Sharks Academy for a short stint. Labuschagne is from Bloemfontein and played for the Cheetahs for four seasons before moving to Japan.
Matsushima scored a hattrick against Russia.