Japan reject Loamanu return
Japan's rugby union chiefs have turned down a plea from coach John
Kirwan to bring back Christian Loamanu for his World Cup squad despite
an indefinite ban on the player for alleged marijuana use.
Kirwan, an All Black legend, earlier said he hoped to see the Japan
Rugby Football Union (JRFU) lift the ban on the 24-year-old Tongan-born
wing when it holds an executive committee meeting on March 24.
"It won't happen," JRFU public relations official Yusuke Kuwano said
Wednesday. "The Loamanu case basically won't be taken up by the
meeting."
"The union has reached a conclusion on the matter," Kuwano told AFP,
adding that Kirwan had accepted the decision.
Kirwan announced his preliminary 41-strong squad, excluding Loamanu,
on Monday for the rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September and
October.
The group will be trimmed to 30 players by August 22 after the Asian
Five Nations tournament in April and May and the Pacific Nations Cup in
July.
JRFU chairman Noburo Mashimo was quoted by Japanese media as saying
on Monday that the union's top leaders had decided not to allow Loamanu,
who now plays for Toulon in France, to rejoin the Brave Blossoms for the
World Cup.
"It was a decision made by the union. He has acted in a way which
runs counter to sportsmanship. He is not suitable to represent Japan,"
Mashimo said, according to the Sports Nippon.
Loamanu won 16 caps for Japan and played at the 2007 World Cup, but
was sacked from Japanese side Toshiba Brave Lupus in February 2009 and
banned by the union after two doping tests revealed traces of cannabis.
AFP |