Beard dodges close shave

WALES second row Adam Beard has the chance to play his way into a World Cup quarter-final shirt today – a month after appendicitis almost ended his tournament before it had started.

Victory against Uruguay is more than likely but there are personal claims to press and the lure of a role in the knockout stages is a strong one in Pool D’s final match.

Beard, 23, will make his tournament debut in Kumamato bent on making up for lost time.

“The night before we travelled, I just came down with a bit of a bad stomach, really. I didn’t think anything of it,” said Beard (below). “I texted the

IRELAND booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a seven-try win over Samoa.

But they were forced to play over half the match with 14 men after Bundee Aki’s red card on the half hour after tries by Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong and Johnny Sexton had put them in control. Jack Lam replied but another Sexton touchdown secured a bonus point before half-time. Jordan Larmour, CJ Stander and Andrew Conway also crossed as Ireland navigated the second half unscathed.

After the shambles in Shizuoka this

CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN: McCaffrey has been on top form doctor for tablets but when we got to Heathrow he assessed me and said I was not fit to fly.

“I went back to Cardiff and had surgery.

“About 10 days later I flew to Japan, which is when the road to recovery started.

“It was obviously a massive drama but I am buzzing to get back out there. “We want to finish this group on a high with four wins and Warren Gatland has said there are places up for the quarters so we can’t wait to get out there.”

NEIL SQUIRES was fun in Fukuoka but the odds on Ireland going beyond next weekend are slim – the task of taking down either New Zealand or South Africa appearing to be too tough.

But at least

Joe Schmidt’s team provided enough evidence to suggest that if they are to go out, they’ll do so with style.