Pitch causes concern for dire Ireland
Doesn’t look great, says Earls before game
>> FUKUOKA: Rugby World Cup officials have given assurances the Fukuoka pitch will hold firm for today’s Ireland-Samoa Test following Irish concerns that it was tearing up.
“It doesn’t look great to be honest with you, but it’s flat and quite firm,” wing Keith Earls said, as teammates lifted a layer of turf and placed a ball underneath during their captain’s run in the Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium yesterday.
“It’s going to be the same for both teams, and we’ll just have to get on with the job.”
Ireland must beat Samoa with a bonus point to be certain of making the World Cup quarterfinals, otherwise their fate rests on the outcome of tomorrow’s final Pool A match between Japan and Scotland.
Ireland’s concerns about the Fukuoka playing surface centre on scrum stability and player safety, after large parts of the surface were re-laid since it took a pounding in the past two weeks when Italy beat Canada 48-7 and France’s 33-9 win over USA.
Despite World Rugby assurances the surface was safe, Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek, a former All Blacks prop, was reluctant to express his opinion because he did not want to “cause any more controversy” about the surface.
“You guys are pretty smart individuals, and you would have seen the pitch yourselves,” he told reporters.
“They told us in an email, both teams know about it. We knew they had to re-lay the pitch. So we just went out there, had an inspection and we’ve been given all the assurances by World Rugby that it’s safe to play on and that’s all we can ask for.
“We just try to back the players, trust that the pitch will do its job.”
Feek, who played in the 1999 World Cup, said scrums were where the pitch will be tested.
“Where there’s a couple of big packs going at it you’re always going to be cautious and ask the questions.
“So we’ve just got to prepare our guys as best we can but make sure the scrums stay up, not just for safety but also for the match too.”
Samoa captain Jack Lam has put country ahead of cash to be at the World Cup, revealing yesterday he turned down lucrative French offers because of strings attached which barred him from rugby’s global showpiece.
The money was appealing to support his family, he said, but the clubs, which he did not identify, insisted he sever ties with Samoa.
“It was a no-brainer,” said Lam who was released by Bristol at the end of the last English Premiership season.
“There were a couple of contracts in France that I could have taken but they had the condition that I had to turn down playing for Samoa in the World Cup and in the future as well,” he said on the eve of their final match in Japan against Ireland.
“I just couldn’t do that to myself and the jersey and it just didn’t cross my mind. It was a bit of a risk, especially for my family, but my missus and my family were all behind my decision.”