Pitch perfect: Richard Hayden

Irish handiwork will be visible everywhere in South Africa this summer, despite the absence of Giovanni Trapattoni's players. A 30-year-old Kilkenny man has laid the turf on all the pitches and training camps which will be used by the world's top players during the month-long World Cup. "I'm flying the flag for Ireland in South Africa," said Richard Hayden, originally from Graiguenamanagh, and now operations director of the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) based in Leeds.

Hayden rose from a summer job tending the greens on Mount Juliet golf course, via a master's degree in agricultural science from Waterford IT and UCD, to become the world's most renowned 'pitch doctor'. He got his first big break when former GAA president Nickey Brennan asked him to solve the pitch problems at Croke Park.

His work on what he says is the best-run stadium in the world brought international attention. "The English Football Association then asked me to prepare its training pitch in South Africa. The FA adopts a very serious approach and assistant manager Franco Baldini came over with me several times to South Africa to check the facilities. England manager Fabio Capello also took an interest and I got to know him well," said Hayden, who admitted to little interest in the 'beautiful game'.

His work with the English FA was so impressive that Fifa came calling. With just 100 days to go before the tournament, Hayden was hired to ensure all 10 pitches, 32 training camps and 12 venue-specific training sites were ready to host the biggest sports tournament in the world. "It was a daunting task and my career was on the line but I accepted the challenge," said Hayden.

He and his team of eight, including two other Irishmen, have been working flat out since February, helped by around 5,000 South African workers.

The worst moment came when he was brought out to inspect the Mbombela stadium near Kruger Park to discover that there was no pitch at all, with a warm-up game scheduled for six weeks ahead. Worse, recalls Hayden, was that 200 mainly English journalists were due the next day to inspect the facilities. "I was wheeled out as an 'Englishman' to face the press and there was some surprise when I spoke. But I promised to have green grass in four weeks, a warm-up game in six weeks and a World Cup game in 10 weeks. It has worked out so far and, notwithstanding the inevitable problems that will arise, I am confident everything is ready," said Hayden.

The Kilkenny man is also assisting the English FA with its ongoing problems with the notorious Wembley pitch which has cut up badly in recent weeks.