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PARIS - England officials have requested that they get a chance to practise with all six match balls ahead of Saturday's rugby World Cup semifinal after the kicking problems experienced by Jonny Wilkinson against Australia.
Wilkinson missed three of his seven goalkicks and said later that he felt two of the misses were partly due to the Gilbert ball in use at the tournament.
The first five-eighth, who said he felt uncomfortable with the ball two weeks ago, is not the first to have voiced concerns over the ball and tournament spokesman Greg Thomas said on Tuesday that some balls had been found to be over-inflated.
"When that happens, a ball's characteristics change. Information on the correct pressure is being sent out to the appropriate people," said Thomas, who stressed that it was not a new type of ball being used here.
In Marseille, England were given only two of the match pool of six for practice and when it came to the match the uneven pressure added an extra unwelcome diversion on an already windy day.
"We've asked the match commissioner to allow us to practise with all six balls and to ensure they are all inflated the right pressure," said elite director of rugby Rob Andrew on Wednesday.
"We can't do any more than that."
- REUTERS
