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 |
Don’t try long passes in test rugby, Pete. It rarely ends well.
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Horne throws a forward pass and gets melted. Had the pass been a back a yard it would have been great play. Instead it’s scrum Japan and have some bruising.
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Nakajima has been immense, since he came on.
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We all said this would be a cracker, whatever happens this has been a stonker of a game
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That’s dumb from the Scottish flanker, you’re in a race against the clock, don’t start on the fly half
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i remember 17 year old Ritchie grabbing Logovi’i Mulipola by the lapels like that in his first game for Edinburgh
He hasn’t taken a backwards step since
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12 minutes and Scotland need 15 points.
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Scotland need three scores which is a huge ask but amazing that it doesn’t seem impossible.
If Japan get another that’s crufts, though.
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Japan going for the Munster approach now. Smells like victory.
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And turned over. Both teams tired, understandably.
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That move where Russell brings an isloated forward on to the ball in midfield has been Scotland’s undoing several times. Wish they’d stop doing it.
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Horne the Elder buggering things up again.
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Things got very Horney during that attack.
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“That move where Russell brings an isloated forward on to the ball in midfield has been Scotland’s undoing several times.”
Russell is good at weighing up his options between his range of kicking and passing – but if there’s nothing obvious he tends to hit the first forward and then move back for the next phase. This is fine in theory but sometimes that forward is on his tod. Guess the question is whether you consider this a failing of other players, or whether you think Russell should do something else.
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Think it’s over now. What a match.
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World Rugby needs to change the laws about letting the clock run while setting up a scrum. Cap it at 30 seconds or something. When you get a few resets it becomes farcical.
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BB,
角 is the kanji for Horne. It translates to “Good provincial player, lacking a bit at test level”.
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Could well end in a tie. Scotland well on top, but clock.is against them scoring more than once
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Much better second half by Scotland. Maybe Japan dropped off after the bonus point try but Scotland made them look tired and opened up big gaps.
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Larry – regardless of whose fault it is it hasn’t been working. Russell running away from it in such an exaggerated way each time makes it particularly comical.
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What defence
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Brilliant defence, unfortunately
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@CMW – agreed.
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Full Munster from Japan now. Great lads.
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Turnippon.
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Great great game. Fantastic performance from Japan.
I’m going to make Okonomiyaki in tribute.
Unlucky Scotland. Played their part in a cracker.
Oh, and we get to play the ABs.
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Amazing, amazing game. Brilliant.
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Well done Japan, fantastic.
I hope they do it again next week
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Might as well have called it off ;)
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Extraordinary match. Hard to bear Scottish boys, but part of a great spectacle.
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Japan’s first ever win v Scotland. Well done to them. And a good effort by Scotland in the second half.
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Commisserations to the Scottish fans here.
Well done by Japan.
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Can rugby be that good every week?
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“Oh, and we get to play the ABs.”
Doesn’t really matter. Either we find a way to hit the gear we were in a year ago or we don’t. If we do, we can beat anyone (albeit ABs are tougher proposition than the Boks). If we don’t, we’re not for turning over either of those sides.
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Well played Japan, brilliant first half and good defence at the end. Great effort from Scotland in the second half and some good tries, shame they didn’t ever properly get it together in this tournament though.
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Absolutely fantastic stuff from Japan! I’m pissed that we’re out, but Japan well deserved that. A fantastic game if you’re neutral though.
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One of the best matches I’ve ever seen. Both teams can be proud of that.
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“fantastic”
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Like someone said Finn had a very strange game. He seemed a bit distant from it, but not in a good way.
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BB, I thought it was a shout-out to ‘pro. Good on you.
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Congratulations to both teams, wonderful effort. Sorry for Scotland but hard to begrudge Japan. Their first half was so fast and so accurate. Can’t remember a single handling error from them.
But Japan will probably be knackered for the QF.
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Phew, what a game. Well played Japan, Scotland too for giving it a go. Finn and Hoggy both look a bit jaded, Nowhere near their best.
Thats set the Cup alight.
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Brilliant game.
Jamie Ritchie was outstanding.
Nakajima was brilliant to watch.
Unfortunately for Scotland Russell and especially Hogg were poor. Then Pete Horne came on and made them both look good.
It is so exciting when Fukuoka and Matsushima get the ball.
I thought the Japanese playmakers consistently took the correct options.
Russell appeared to alternate between hesitating and trying to be too clever.
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Glasgow have all their World Cup players back for the next round of the Pro14 so I make them odds-on to beat the Dragons in a couple of weeks.
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The Boks will have noticed how Scotland’s counter rucking was pretty productive in the second half.
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They just showed the group table. Japan only third on points difference which I’m sure I’ve heard is the best indicator.
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I’m glad that the match went ahead, both because it was awesome and because it would have been horrible for Scotland to go out by default.
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Well. It was worth getting it on for sure.
Can Japan do it against SA again? Are they as brilliant as they look or will someone with a really powerful pack get to them (without the ref on their side he Ireland). The quarter finals all look brilliant match ups
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Unbelievable! It was too frenetic and nerve-wracking to actually comment during the game. Commiserations to the Scots on here, but beating Irealnd and Scotland is a stunning achievement.
So the Boks will be the villains next week, surely a strange position for them, whilst one of the pre-tournament favourites is definitely out when Ireland and New Zealand face off. Australia-England and Wales-France could both be very spicy matches. Bring it on!
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As good a player as Mostert is it’s got be de Jager and Etzebeth next week. Need some power in the tight 5 v Japan. Am’s a better player all around than Harris so the defence in the 13 channel’ll be better for SA.
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