In their infinite wisdom, World Rugby chose to schedule the World Cup in a country that is prone to typhoons at this time of year, and to make absolutely no contingency plans should a typhoon threaten.
In a development that appears to have taken the organisers completely by surprise, there is a typhoon headed in Japan’s direction, and two matches have been cancelled, with Japan v Scotland still in doubt.
France will miss out on the possibility of beating England to top their group, and Italy will miss out on a historic chance to beat the All-Blacks and progress to the quarter-finals for the first time.
All right, nobody thinks that Italy would have beaten New Zealand, but it’s a funny old game and a couple of red cards, or another sneaky peek at the rule-book, could have produced the upset of the century. Apparently we’ll never know.
As Parisse said:
“It is ridiculous that a decision of this nature has been made because it isn’t like the fans arrived yesterday. It is ridiculous that there was no plan B, because it isn’t news that typhoons hit Japan.
“Sure everyone might think that Italy versus New Zealand being cancelled counts for nothing because we’d have lost anyway, but we deserved to be respected as a team. We had the chance to play in a big stadium, against a great team.
“The alternative is plan B. When you organise a World Cup you should have one in place.”
Should the Japan v Scotland match be cancelled, all three teams in Pool A contention will have reason to feel aggrieved also: Scotland for obvious reasons, Japan because it is not the way you’d want to go through, and Ireland because they miss the chance to top the pool (that being in Scotland’s gift, rather than Ireland’s hands, of course).
Quite frankly, World Cup should be handed a red card for bringing the game into disrepute. Players and fans alike (and no doubt the sponsors too) are rightly furious.
These matches should be rescheduled in alternative locations.
Last weekend’s rugby
For a rundown on the state of play as of 07/10, please see Deebee’s excellent synopsis.
On the telly this week … or not
Friday 11th October
| Australia 27 – 8 Georgia | 11:15 | ITV4 |
| Cheetahs 40 – 16 Munster | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Dragons 14 – 38 Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 / TG4 / S4C |
| Leinster 40 – 14 Edinburgh | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Gloucester 24 – 26 Bath | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 12th October
| New Zealand v Italy | 05:45 | CANCELLED |
| England v France | 09:15 | CANCELLED |
| Ireland 47 – 5 Samoa | 11:45 | ITV |
| Kings 17 – 42 Ulster | 15:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Scarlets 54 – 10 Zebre | 15:00 | Freesports |
| Ospreys v Treviso | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Glasgow v Cardiff | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 13th October
| Namibia v Canada | 04:15 | ITV |
| USA v Tonga | 06:45 | ITV |
| Wales v Uruguay | 09:10 | ITV / S4C |
| Japan v Scotland | 11:45 | ITV |
Ovally Balls 
“Hopefully JRM is a massive rugby fan”
I suppose in keeping with his faux aristocratic pose, he probably one of those who say the only sports are “huntin’, fishin’, and shootin’….” – the rest are just “games”…..
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Anyway, surely between knocking off work tomorrow and going back Monday, thats plenty of time for tiling plus rugby, and some cheese on toast. Or are you tiling the whole fucking house ?
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Oi, cheeky, I’m on deadlines here.
Moving back into the house next weekend, got to get the underfloor heating in’t upstairs bathroom & tile it for Monday for sanitary ware. Fecktonne of other stuff to do & get ready for carpets. need to get curtains and shit sorted. Madame is having a minor breakdown (or perhaps major now) about curtain and paint colours. Apparently my pointing at random colours I quite like and saying let’s just to that one and not have days of stress over it is ‘not helpful’.
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@chimpie
Doing the tiling yourself may also turn out to be “not helpful”.
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How dare you insult my tiling. It’s awesome.
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I’m going to post a picture of it after that outrageous slur.
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or is this OT’s tiling?
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Plus kidz need entertaining. Leaving them on screens for the whole day is not particularly good parenting, rumour has it.
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@chimpie
@chimpie
could not leave that unedited….
I have never done tiling. If I did it would probably look very similar to that. Best left to the competent.
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I’ve done tiling. Over other tiling. Managed to sell the house.
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You can hide a lot with tiling.
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Other tiles, apparently.
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Tiling is ideal for someone who uses one side only.
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“Plus kidz need entertaining. Leaving them on screens for the whole day is not particularly good parenting, rumour has it.”
Kids, we’re doing something special today.
– Are we going to Disneyworld? or The Moon? or Loch Ness?
No, you’re going to watch me tiling.
– Fuck’s sake. I’d rather eat his cheese on toast.
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Made them do some painting the other week. Not going to let them loose with tile adhesive and and angle grinder though.
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I bet you’ve all secretly tried the ol’ cheese on toast and found it perfectly acceptable.
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I’ll take silence for confirmation
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*case rested*
You all love it.
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Thought pig-fucking was the pursuit of choice of JRMs mob?
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Better than Chimpie’s cheese on toast I suppose.
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One more day in the office then RUGBY TIME! Wonder if I’ll get to watch any?
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‘Better than Chimpie’s cheese on toast I suppose’
Dude, your priorities are all skewed if you prefer porcine congress to a nice bit of cheese on toast.
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Ha! I just got duded by a bread-warmer! Never shagged a pig, or any other animal for that matter, so I’ll have to take your word for it.
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I should clarify that I’ve only tried one of those things. And it’s the one that involves bread and cheese
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Uruguay, brave heroes to a player, accused of wrecking a Japanese nightclub on Sunday night/Monday morning:
“Japanese media reported other damage in the incident, including from players punching walls and mirrors and tearing apart a stuffed teddy bear.”
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“And it’s the one that involves bread and cheese”
Protection or lubricant?
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And one of their hookers was cited after the Wales game. Lapwings my eye!
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Urgh. Shame on me.
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Guns – was it you who filmed Claw after a couple of pints?
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I should add that it wasn’t Mullet n’ Tasche who was cited.
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New post up shortly….
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https://ovallyballs.sport.blog/2019/10/17/top-secret-world-cup-despatch/
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