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 |
Scotland need to win by eight points, doesn’t matter if it’s 8-0 or 68-60, we will go through
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I think I saw the latest was the decision will be made at midnight Scottish time, I’ve decided to only relate to Scotland from now on
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Apart from The Sleaford Mods, obviously, who are awesome
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“Don’t know when the shaft / non shaft decision will be made”
Assuming it goes ahead then round about the 79th minute is traditional.
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Ach, sorry Ticht, it’s not often I have a musical disagreement with you , but I just couldnae thole yon track you posted. When you said ‘punk’ I thought it might be something from 76-78-ish. Must be my bunged up proggy ears…..
(And yes, I am listening to prog – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, since you didn’t ask).
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Oops, that last post reads a bit snarkier than I meant it to be. Read it with a smile on your face!
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Pitch inspection happening now apparently. Shaft announcement in 2 hours.
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Oooohhhh, punk rock? I might have something of interest amongst this clutter.
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No worries BB.
I find their stuff challenging and thought provoking, but I know others will hate it.
My sister in law spoke to the partner not shown in that video, he is the one who does all the music but usually stands there drinking a pint on stage – it’s all part of the image and it’s great.
Anyway, my sister in law (from Goole) says to him that she’d seen him in Ponty (Pontefract) and he says, “Yeah, was that in Lidl? I go there a lot”, and she says “no, it was at your gig”
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Just seen on the World Rugby site that the Namibia/Canada match has been cancelled. Suspect that means that the Scotland/Japan game will also be cancelled, although I’m not sure how close the stadia were to each other (and the typhoon area).
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Exclusive footage of pitch inspection!
Optimistic Wah Wahs kick in at 1.25!!
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Bit more detail on that cancellation here:
https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/update
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The original punks….
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Feel sorry for Canada that this game was cancelled. And that their others were allowed to go ahead.
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BB, that Damned riff is one of my all time favourites, I spend all day playing very complicated stuff but nothing beats that didididuuum!
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@Ticht – “It’s fit for work if it can shit and stare” is quite the line.
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But this is probably my favourite punk song. (From a double album, don’t ya know!)
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BB, the Canada game is a lot firther north, in a vary mountainous region. There’s still hope.
Mind, it’s the hope that kills ya. Ticht probably up all night drinking fine wines to hear the decision, then will sleep thru the game.
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“@Ticht – “It’s fit for work if it can shit and stare” is quite the line.”
CMW, I don’t understand why this stuff doesn’t induce mass protests and riots, it genuinely perplexes me
My only “reasoning” for it is that we really don’t give a shit about anyone but ourselves – is that where we are at?
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It’s now the Sabbath…..
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USa/Tonga and Wales/Uruguay both to go ahead. No news on the Scotland game as yet.
https://www.world.rugby/news/510965
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Boredoms Vs Mogwai going ahead.
Game on gang!
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“The organisers have also warned spectators not to be “alarmed” by the significant amounts of water in the surrounding floodplains and river.”
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C’mon Rugby!
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It’s on!
https://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyWorldCup2019/its-on-crunch-japan-v-scotland-match-gets-go-ahead-20191013
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While it’s a shame for Namibia and Canada, I’m glad I didn’t have to get up at 4am.
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Tongan scrum turning the screws, but USA scramble successfully and clear their lines.
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Tonga missing the ‘last pas’. Could have had at least 2 by now.
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Tonga doing everything but scoring here. Should probably have had at least two tries.
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Fuck off Refit. Smartarse quick finger typer type.
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Only got that in ahead of me because your spelling is appalling. Pfft!
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Fisi’ihoi with lovely hands to set up an attack. A few phases later he crashes over. 7-0 to Tonga.
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Finally! Great break downfield and eventually battered over from short range.
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Pfft! TomP now getting all smartarse by knowing the players names. Seriously?
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Nice off load from Dolan, puts Te’o in to space. He steps inside and runs in to score.
7-7
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USA hit back almost immediately! But you knew that already, as some quick fingered BASTARD has got there first.
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With names and everything.
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Well that sucks for Namibia and Canada
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Boom!
That’s what we can do out wide.
Mike Te’o was a 120kg defensive end at high school. Now a sidestepping wing.
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Relief for us and Japan though
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Eagles rampant
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Andrew Mehrtens is a step up from Ugo Monye:
“It’s a dream for all those who love alliteration – two touches, two tries for Te’o”
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Shift in energy in this game, Tonga struggling.
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Should I even bother? 12-7 USA
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Te’o again!
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Good to hear about the Scotland vs Japan game. Sad for the others. Sorry to hear ladoab.
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Dropped ball straight from the kick-off by the American 7. Tonga getting great position. 10 out and a scream,
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And then a horrible error to reset said energy.
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Wotcha, Killer.
This energy is what Old Terry calls Momentum, no?
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