シャンプーやベビーオイルも、日本の天気対策にラグビー各国代表が奇策

【東京ＡＦＰ＝時事】20日に開幕を控えるラグビーW杯日本大会に向けて各国代表が準備を進める中、トーナメントに重大な影響を与えかねない日本の予測しにくい天気への対策に、シャンプーとベビーオイルは必須のアイテムとなっている。（写真は資料写真）
　晴れから雨、そして晴れに逆戻りといった天候の急変に加え、高い湿度も予想されることから、各国代表の指導者たちはどのような状況にも対応できるようプランを練っている。
　オールブラックス（ニュージーランド代表の愛称）のスティーブ・ハンセンヘッドコーチ（ＨＣ）は、「ボールが常に重要になる。湿度が高いためボールがぬれるので、技術が本当に重要となる」と述べる。
　オールブラックスの３大会連続優勝を目指すハンセンＨＣは練習中、ボールを何度も水に浸し、ぬれた状況を再現していた。
　しかし、ほかの代表の中にはさらに独創的な方法を取り入れているところもある。
　ウェールズ代表のウォーレン・ガトランドＨＣは練習中ボールを滑りやすくするため、ベビーオイルを塗っていると認めており、またスコットランド代表はシャンプーとコンディショナーを使って汗まみれのボールを再現している。
　オールブラックスとの決勝対決を見据えるイングランド代表のエディー・ジョーンズＨＣは過去４年、悪名高い日本の秋の天気を戦術プランの中心的要素と位置付けてきた。
　ジョーンズＨＣは日本代表のＨＣを務めた経験も持ち、イングランド代表に求める重要な要素として肉体と精神の回復力を挙げている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/09/19-09:05）

Shampoo and baby oil have become essentials in the training kit in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup as Japan's unpredictable weather threatens to have a significant influence on the tournament.
The prospect of snap changes from dry to wet and back again, and in intense humidity, have coaches working on plans to cover every scenario.
The big thing will be the ball. That'll be the constant thing. The humidity will be high and the ball will be wet so skills will be really important, says All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
Hansen, on a mission for New Zealand's third consecutive World Cup win, has been happy just to soak the ball in water during training sessions to mimic wet conditions.
But other teams have taken a more out-of-the-box approach.
Warren Gatland has admitted to using baby oil to make the balls slippery during Wales training sessions, while Scotland have turned to hair care, applying shampoo and conditioner to replicate a sweaty ball.
The sweat is more of an issue. The wet is obviously not ideal, but the sweat is difficult to deal with, assistant coach Mike Blair said.
England coach Eddie Jones, who has forecast an England-New Zealand final, has made Japan's notorious autumn weather a central element in his planning over the past four years.
Having previously coached in Japan, the Australian-born England mentor has marked physical and mental resilience as key elements he wanted from players in his World Cup squad.
- 'Shocking conditions' -
England?s hooker Jamie George explained: We have buckets (of water) on the side of the pitch and we put the ball in that before we throw it.
But there have been no novel training tricks for Ireland, even though there is the prospect of torrential rain when they play their first game against Scotland on Sunday.
Loose forward Rhys Ruddock says the world's number one-ranked side are quite at home in the wet.
We've had some big performances in the past in shocking conditions so it's not dampening excitement for the match, he said.
However, the issue for Ireland was adapting to what could be varying weather conditions during the 80 minutes of playing time, and which could prove crucial.
I would think we're going to have to prepare for all outcomes, in terms of the weather, Ruddock said.
We might just have to adjust things on the day. We've got a plan for best-placed scenario and worst-placed scenario, with as little tweaking in between as we have to.
The guys who are making those decisions on the day will have options depending on how the game's going, what the score is, the time on the clock and the weather definitely comes into it.
The forecast for the opening weekend of the tournament is for temperatures around 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit) with fine weather interspersed with heavy rain.
Two people died when Typhoon Faxai battered Japan earlier this month, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power and disrupting travel for some arriving World Cup teams.