Rugby World Cup: Sapporo’s bright lights could create havoc for players catching high kicks
The lights inside the enclosed Sapporo Dome stadium are super bright, which is great news for Wallaby fans preparing to watch Australia play Fiji but not so good for any players trying to catch high kicks.
The hypnotic appeal of the space-age Sapporo Dome where the Wallabies will play their World Cup opener against Fiji comes with a catch.
The lights inside the enclosed stadium are much lower than at outdoor stadiums so give off a brighter shine than usual.
That’s great news for the 41,000 spectators who will pack into the stands for the mouth-watering Pool D clash with Fiji but not so good for wingers and fullbacks trying to catch high kicks if the floodlights are right in their eye line.
Both the Australians and the Fijians visited the stadium for the first time yesterday and spent time practising their catching to ensure they won’t be blinded by the lights.
“The lights are the same for both teams,” Fiji coach John McKee said.
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“Sometimes when you’re standing out in the middle of the field you could get a bit of glare from the lights but our backfield players were taking plenty of high balls and getting high balls kicked to them at our captain’s run to get the feeling.”
The Wallabies were too starstruck by the breathtaking look of the stadium to worry about the lights as they walked on Sapporo’s field of dreams to the strains of AC/DC playing over the public address system, though vice-captain Samu Kerevi admitted he was relieved he didn’t have to catch high balls.
“It’s awesome, the stadium,” Kerevi said.
“Hopefully I won’t be catching high balls, that’s KB’s (Kurtley Beale) job at the back but I didn’t find any issues with that at all.”
No stranger to playing in state of the art venues, the Wallabies captain Michael Hooper admitted he was smitten by the Sapporo Dome, a giant silver-topped venue that was built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and is a favourite of English soccer fans because that’s where David Beckham famously scored to beat Argentina 1-0.
The stadium is regularly used for football and baseball but has never been used for an international rugby match, leaving World Cup organisers hopeful that the retractable pitch will stand up to the rigours of hosting back to back tests this weekend.
“I’m very impressed by the stadium, it’s like nothing we’ve ever played at before,” Hooper said. “It’s actually a different sort of environment inside from outside so I think it’s a great way to kick off the tournament.
Hooper will be reunited with his long time teammate David Pocock in a revamped Australian backrow which will pay a big part in the outcome and revealed that he has poo-pooed a suggested change of names from his partner in crime.
Known as “Pooper”, their combined domination of the breakdown was decisive in the Wallabies making the World Cup so Hooper doesn’t want to mess with a proven formula.
“I think Dave’s wanting a bit of a name change from the Pooper so he’s been talking to me about calling it the Hocock now,” Hooper said,
“I’m not sure how much attraction that’s going to get, but I love playing with Dave. I’m a fan of his work on the field, his ability to get over the ball.
“We’re ready to go. We’ve had so much time to be thinking about this moment but we’re finally here and ready to go.”
Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Sapporo’s bright lights could create havoc for players catching high kicks
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