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 |
At least Amos didn’t dislocate his shoulder, as he did with a similar attempted finish in the past.
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Rugby Union – honesty and integrity. Give it a fucking rest, Hastings.
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What a noise!
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I heard that the Scottish players have been eating Japanese homeless person sushi for breakfast. Been raping and pillaging villages wrecked by the typhoon too.
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Anyone got a link?
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Frantic start.
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Is that the first side-entry called in this WC?
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Very good by Seymour.
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First against Japan, he snarked.
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@Flair – this will be on domestic TV for most of us, not sure who would be using a link. Is this not on in France?
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Gwan Finny boy
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Superb from Tamura. Thought Graham was getting that. Amazing start. I’m even more excited.
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YYYYYYYYYYYE$ESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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Gray has clearly taken on the Itoje role of chief celebrations officer
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Finn and Hogg both look in the groove here. This could be something.
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I hear Jonny Gray has change his first name to Enola.
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flair,
https://buffstream.stream/watch-japan-vs-scotland-stream-1
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Scotland farting up a restart shocker
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Take a seat, Enzo, that is not going to be bettered today
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Who’s the ref?
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O’Keefe the Incorruptible.
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Ritchie having a big 12 minutes
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@Iks
Ben O’Keefe.
Kiwi with a suspiciously Irish name…
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Ben is Scottish for mountain. The fix is in.
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Tomp – those lawyers…
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Ta.
There’s a German livestream with German commentary, Flair. All my old ones are dead.
https://www.prosiebenmaxx.de/livestream
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Very nice from Japan
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Oh, great try!
I reckon the Japanese have been cheating by studying the ABs’ techniques.
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FAST RUGBY!
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Lovely. Top first quarter. This is what sports mornings are about.
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Suppose you need a VPN though.
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That is a superb try.
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Lovely pass from Lafaele. Matsushima scores
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I’m puffed out already.
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Streaming on time for fantastic try by Japan.
Thanks boys.
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Fantastic try from Japan!
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And a Czech one with Czech commentary:
https://sport.ceskatelevize.cz/clanek/ragby/ms-v-ragby/zive-ms-v-ragby-japonsko-skotsko-wales-si-na-zaver-skupiny-poradil-s-neprijemnou-uruguayi/5da2f8f5fccd259ea42886fc
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I tried espn and I can’t find live match stats but it feels like Japan gave had the lion’s share of possession
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So glad this game can take place.
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I know Leitch was cruelly child-trafficked to Japan and all that but he’s a top player.
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Gutted for Japanese prop having to go off.
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Enzo, game is shown here but on a minor pay TV, RMC.
Big games are shown on terrestrial TF1 and I guess noone expected this one would be such great value.
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That is not very fair, penalising Scotland
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Oh my! Do something, Scotland!
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What a score! What a game!
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This isn’t going to plan at all
Great try though
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Amazing try. All Japan for the last ten minutes.
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Magic
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Brilliant.
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Yellow card for me.
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