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Typhoon Hagibis forces cancellation of two matches

rugby10 October 2019 05:20| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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All Blacks © Getty Images

The violent typhoon that is homing in on Tokyo, Yokohama and Toyota City and expected to make landfall on Saturday has forced the cancellation of two matches in the final weekend of Pool action at the Rugby World Cup.

Two games scheduled for Saturday - England v France in Yokohama and New Zealand against Italy in Toyota City - have been cancelled with the four teams each getting two log points from what will be declared 0-0 draws. There won’t be a significant effect on the respective pools those teams participated in.

However, there could be an impact on the final outcome of Pool A depending on whether Sunday’s Pool phase finale between Japan and Scotland, scheduled for Yokohama Stadium, goes ahead or not. World Cup organisers say they are doing everything possible to ensure that the game does take place. The Ireland versus Samoa game scheduled for Friday in Fukuoka and the Australia game against Georgia in Shizuoka on the same day will proceed as scheduled.

That means that there could be impact on Pool A, because if Ireland win with a bonus point in Shizuoko and Japan have to settle for two points in the event of their game against Scotland being cancelled, Ireland will draw level with the host nation at the top of the log and will win the group because of likely superior points difference (currently Japan’s superiority in terms of points differential is just six points).

The Rugby World Cup organising committee appear determined to do everything possible to ensure the Japan/Scotland game takes place, and there has been talk of them rescheduling the game for 24 hours later should a pitch inspection scheduled for Sunday morning rule out a Sunday evening game. The final match of the pool phase is being seen as the biggest in the history of rugby in Japan and important to the sell of the game in this part of the world.

Typhoon Hagibis is expected to be the largest and most vicious typhoon to hit Tokyo this year.

“Based on the latest detailed information from the tournament’s independent weather experts, Hagibis is predicted to be the biggest typhoon of the 2019 season and is highly likely to cause considerable disruption in the Tokyo, Yokohama and City of Toyota areas throughout Saturday, including likely public transport shutdown or disruption,” said World Rugby in a statement issued on Thursday.

“As a result, World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee have taken the difficult, but right decision to cancel matches in the affected areas on safety grounds. The impacted teams have been informed and are understanding. For matches that do not go ahead as scheduled, two points will be awarded to each team in line with tournament rules.

“It is an exceptional, complex and rapidly evolving situation and team and public safety is the No 1 priority. This has been central in all decision-making in partnership with the tournament’s weather information experts, host cities, venues and teams.

“The decision to cancel matches has not been taken lightly and has been made in the best interests of public, team, tournament personnel and volunteer safety, based on expert advice and detailed weather information. While we have extensively explored all options, public and team safety was our utmost priority as well as ensuring a consistent, fair and equitable outcome for all teams. All fans with tickets for a cancelled match will receive a full refund for the face value of their match tickets."

Based on the latest detailed weather information, the following update is provided:

Friday, 11 October

Pool D match between Australia and Georgia in Shizuoka at 19:15 JST to be played as scheduled

Saturday, 12 October

Pool A match between Ireland and Samoa in Fukuoka at 19:45 JST (12.45pm South African time) to be played as scheduled

Pool B match between New Zealand and Italy to be cancelled

Pool C match between England and France to be cancelled

Every effort is being made to ensure Sunday’s matches will be played as scheduled. A thorough assessment of venues will take place after the typhoon has passed before a final decision is made on Sunday morning.

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