Rugby World Cup
Japan No.8 Amanaki Mafi 'almost 100%' ahead of Samoa clash
Rob Bartlett
September 29, 2015
Amanaki Mafi
Amanaki Mafi© Julian Finney/Getty Images

Japan No.8 Amanaki Mafi says he has recovered "almost 100%" from the injury that saw him leave the pitch on a stretcher during last week's 45-10 defeat to Scotland.

Mafi was taken off shortly into the second half with Japan trailing Vern Cotter's side by just two points having been one of the best players on the Kingsholm pitch.

His initial chances of making Eddie Jones' final World Cup squad were slim after he dislocated a hip last December, but the NTT Shining Arcs player has been one of the stand-out performers in England.

With the crucial Pool B clash against Samoa in Milton Keynes next Saturday, Mafi stated he was feeling much better.

"[The location] was near the [hip] area where I had the surgery before," Mafi said during the team's press conference in Warwick on Tuesday. "I've been getting a massage two, three times a day. I'm close to perfect, almost 100 per cent."

Mafi's fine World Cup form has seen him linked with a reported move to a club based overseas, but he insists the speculation ca wait until after the World Cup.

"I'm surprised by it myself," he added. "I can't say which team yet. Nothing has been decided. Right now, I want to focus on my duties with Japan."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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