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 |
Hell Ticht, don’t worry about that.
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Dunbar (shithole apparently) and Skye
http://www.glasgowwarriors.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=4
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Wow, that really didn’t work onna hilarious scale – that was meant to be a Danny MacAskill vid but copy and paste decided otherwise
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let’s see if this works, shithole, etc
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Looks like a complete shit hole Ticht! 😜
My friends and me used to try to do that kind of riding when we were kids. Managed to drop off a 5ft wall but Danny is on another planet. Here’s a video from one of my heroes :
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I hope Danny has better luck though. Here’s my hero’s Teid talk:
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Tokyo weather/trafficcam:
https://worldcams.tv/japan/tokyo/shibuya-crossing
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Football’s greatest competition has more fixtures today.
Pick may be Wrexham v St Mirren Under 21. Or perhaps Partick Thistle v Connah’s Quay. Solihull v Rangers Under 21 looks too close to call.
I love the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup
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Most enjoyable read-back. Watched my recording of the Drags debacle and I blame the coaches for sending a Dollop not a Pack onto the field.
NostradamIks did some naysaying when Sammy Davies was been hyped as the Welsh Bojangles while at the Os, but I hope he gets a chance to at least catch the ball and play some rugby now he’s on a bigger stage at Rodney Parade.
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@tomp
Am I reading it right when it says that there are 6 fixtures in the quarter finals?
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Ticht – we may well be passing through that well-known East Coast “shithole” on Monday as we head down to Northumberland for a few days. I’ll make sure I say hello to the town on your behalf!
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I watched EL Camino last night. Great way to close that show. Some nice moments etc.
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@Yos – No, but only 28 out of 24 teams get through to the second round and that reduces the field still further to 32.
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Thankfully the competition has managed to negotiate the tricky obstacle presented by the third round draw which means it can continue in all its glory with England being represented as it quite rightly should be by Wrexham.
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Eliud Kipchoge Has just run the marathon in under two hours,
That is four minute mile in terms of achievement, probably far more of an achievement
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I am most interested in learning what contingency plans the Tunnocks Challenge Cup has in place for severe weather.
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@Ticht
It’s not that far off running 26 x 4 minute miles.
One day science and pharmacology will probably see that happen.
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Pfft. Everyone runs faster with lasers pointing at them.
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Those little red dots from laser sights in snipers rifles ?
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Yos – it won’t be played if it isn’t severe weather.
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@Yos – I’m still trying to work out how many former Tunnocks Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup winners you would need to assemble to carry out that third round draw. I’m thinking it could probably be done with as few as six.
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Watched a good video on what Kipchoge had to do, to get under 2hrs:
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Sorry ladz and lassies of a green persuasion but I’m supporting Samoa this morning
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Shit, earthquake is a game changer in Japan
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Earthquake can mean tsunami
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Earthquake?
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I just heard the word, SBT, turns out it is 5.7 on the scale, which is described as causing “Slight damage to buildings and other structures.”
So not as bad as I first thought
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A man has been killed by a car flipping over in the wind near Tokyo.
Obviously not as tragic as rugby matches possibly being cancelled and teams going home earlier than planned, but sad news all the same.
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Go back through every single word that has been posted on the subject Pro and show me one post that has stayed that rugby is more important than someone’s life.
Or stfu
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The pitch for the Samoa-Ireland game is not good.
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Yeah Pro, don’t be a prick.
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Tommy Bowe: “Ireland fans are the best fans going”
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The SRU are threatening legal action if a game of rugby cannot go ahead due to an event that is going to claim lives.
That is deeply inappropriate.
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https://www.scottishrugby.org/news/watch-mark-dodson-press-conference
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Man that pitch looks awful
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Ooh, missing the days when it was all about evil boring Ireland and gammon brexiteers.
Game on hold, got to pop out for a bit, god bless ITV hub.
C’mon Samoa.
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Yes!! Nerves still jangling though.
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Quite Tim, now we are going to get years of tedious propprobium directed at everything Scottish.
Still, I suppose the Irish lads and lassies are due a break
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‘pro displeasing.
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Any updates will be appreciated as Transport for Wales mun wifi isn’t up to streaming.
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Referee Nic Berry was a Heartbeat away from disallowing that try.
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@Yos
Ireland get maul penalty on 10m line. Kick the corner.
Best scores from ensuing maul
7-0
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Munilpola is pinged for in at the side, in a mid-field maul. Ireland stick it in the corner and maul over the line. There’s a TMO check, to see if there was an obstruction be Ireland, but the try is good.
7-0 Ireland.
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7-0 to Ireland.
A flowing move by ireland would’ve been nice but it was Rory Best off a catch and drive after a 5-metre line out.
Sloppy restart take by Ireland.Samoa scrum on the 22.
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Bye bye Samoan hooker
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Good refereeing though, brings it down to yellow because Stockdale dipped significantly
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Yellow for the Samoan hooker. High tackle on Stockdale. Some mitigation so yellow.
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Yellow card for Seilala Lam, after he catches Stockdale in the head, in a tackle. There’s mitigation, as Stockdale dropped significantly going into contact and Lam had tried to get low.
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I know its all safety, and he did shoulder Stockdale in the face, but that seemed very harsh
Stockdale dipped so low that a tackle that would have hit the upper thighs was “high”. Was wrapping the arm as well
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Furlong furra line!
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