Japanese fascinated by Wallabies
By Darren Walton
- From: AAP
- October 28, 2009 2:42PM
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Fan favourites ... Australia's Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom takes a photo with a fan in Tokyo, Japan. Source: AP
FORGET rucks and mauls, the Japanese are more intrigued by the personalities and characters involved in Saturday's historic Bledisloe Cup Test in Tokyo.
Not quite feted like rock stars, the Wallabies and All Blacks are nevertheless major attractions this week in the Japanese capital, where local journalists have grilled the players with some of the most bizarre questions they'll ever encounter.
Take this one, for example, directed to Wallabies halfback Will Genia and flanker David Pocock: "We understand that Phil Waugh is the most avoided roommate. Is there a particular Wallabies player on this tour that players don't want to be with?'' the translator asked, to much amusement and bemusement of the Australian pair.
"Generally, I think front-rowers are pretty much avoided by the rest of the team,'' Pocock said. "Probably the biggest reason is because they snore pretty loud. And compared to other blokes, they're probably not the most hygienic. It's a bit of a generalisation, but I'll say it.''
Genia was happy to back up his tour roommate. "Yeah, front-rowers are just real grubby,'' he said.
Pocock revealed he was delighted not to have been with 10 of his teammates who awoke ridiculously early on Wednesday to be at Tokyo's famous fish markets at the crack of dawn. "They got down there at 4.30 and it was closed,'' he said.
"It's where they bring out all the tuna and stuff and it's all over by quarter to six, but one Wednesday every month they close it for cleaning.''
Eager to learn all they could about their special sporting guests, the Japanese also quizzed Pocock about his charity group Twenty-Eighty Vision, which assists the underprivileged in his native homeland of Zimbabwe, and wanted to know his and Genia's rugby heroes while growing up.
But clearly size matters in Japan, with pocket rocket Pocock fielding the strangest question of all. "I am looking at your arms and they are huge. Can you tell me how many centimetres they are and also who has the biggest arms of all the Wallabies players?'' one reporter asked.
A flummoxed Pocock eventually replied: "I haven't measured them for a while but definitely the biggest arms, Mark Chisholm.''
It was time to wrap up the crazy press conference when Genia, easily the shortest player in Australia's 35-man touring squad, was asked this corker. "Were you small as a child?''
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