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 
Wales don’t win comfortably against France. I can only think of one comfortable win against them in my life.
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Cheika has laid a cruel trap for us. Lead us on to think that we are better than we are and then knock us out twice in a row.
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There is a part of me wants Australia to win and for them then to be chucked out for whatever is the rugby equivalent of ball tampering.
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Eliminated XXIII – https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/513634
1. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Argentina)
Tetaz Chaparro made more carries and tackles per minute than any player playing 50% of his team’s game time in the pool phase – showing a level of stamina and commitment few loose-heads possess.
2. Joe Taufete’e (USA)
Taufete’e showed remarkable staying power in clocking up 244 minutes during the tournament, topping the hooker carries chart with 37, while he was third on tackles and turnovers.
3. Michael Alaalatoa (Samoa)
Completing a durable front row is the 128kg tight-head, whose 39 tackles puts him second on the list of No.3s. Alaalatoa, whose brother Allan is in the Australia squad, also had the second-most turnovers of any tight-head.
4. Guido Petti (Argentina)
The second-row’s numbers speak of a top-class all-rounder: 70 metres made (third in his position), most lineout steals of any player (5), second in second-row turnovers, third for defenders beaten.
5. Jonny Gray (Scotland)
A renowned tackling machine, Gray’s 28 against Japan was a tournament high. But with 14 passes and a third-place ranking in his position for offloads and try assists, the Scotland second-row is so much more.
6. Juan Gaminara (Uruguay)
Not only did Uruguay’s captain play a key role in the shock win against Fiji, he also made 52 tackles in the pool stage, the third most by a blindside flanker, despite starting the match against Australia on the bench.
7. Jake Polledri (Italy)
Polledri’s barnstorming performances included beating 27 defenders, the most recorded in any Rugby World Cup by a forward, despite playing just 196 minutes.
8. Beka Gorgadze (Georgia)
A worthy successor to the similarly named Mamuka Gorgodze as Georgia’s go-to go-forward man. He made 149 metres, as well as the most tackles (38) and turnovers (5) of anybody in his position.
9. Santiago Arata (Uruguay)
Tackles (38), defenders beaten (6), turnovers (six), the Los Teros scrum-half had it all, proving key in the win against Fiji. He’s got a decent boot on him, too…
10. Finn Russell (Scotland)
Third-most metres made (126), second-most defenders beaten (11), third-most clean breaks (4) and most offloads (6). Impressive fly-half numbers in a Scotland team that was not always going forwards.
11. Semi Radradra (Fiji)
Metres made (400), defenders beaten (29), carries (62): Semi-trailer topped all those categories. Throw in six tries and two Player of the Match awards and his figures, and performances, were simply breathtaking.
12. Siale Piutau (Tonga)
He will be remembered for a try-scoring farewell to international rugby against USA, but the Tonga captain’s tackle count was most impressive, 42 the most of any inside-centre.
13. Waisea Nayacalevu (Fiji)
The leading outside centre in metres made (219) and clean breaks (5), Nayacalevu also scored tries against tough opposition in Australia and Wales
14. Mattia Bellini (Italy)
A breakout tournament for the tall winger, who made 160 metres and seven clean breaks in just 120 minutes of rugby, scoring a try in each of his games.
15. Telusa Veainu (Tonga)
The leading full-back in metres made (248) and tries scored.
Replacements
16. Torsten van Jaarsveld (Namibia)
17. Guram Gogichashvili (Georgia)
18. Kirill Gotovtsev (Russia)
19. Andrey Ostrikov (Russia)
20. Lucas Rumball (Canada)
21. Ruben De Haas (USA)
22. Helarius Kisting (Namibia)
23. Alapati Leiua (Samoa)
* No more than two players could be picked from any of the 12 departing teams and all of them had to be represented at least once in a squad of 23.
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BB, I can’t agree about Dodson, we’ve been rolled over a lot, he refused to be brushed aside with a “pfffting” wave of the back of World Rugby’s hand. Good for him, I say.
Is Parisse being taken to a tribunal, too?
As for suggestions about inker with the 6N, I don’t think it can possibly happen, it’s a huge cash cow for the nations involved, it could possibly be expanded to include Japan, but there no way home and away games could be played, it just isn’t happening. – the calendar is already congested and the clubs just won’t wear it, and neither should the players’ unions to be honest.
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Yos – I thought England did that in 2011 when wilko wasn’t nailing his kicks…
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“Is Parisse being taken to a tribunal, too?”
Parisse didn’t hire lawyers and threaten legal action.
“we’ve been rolled over a lot”
When and how?
“pfffting” wave of the back of World Rugby’s hand:
WR said that everything possible would be done to ensure the game went ahead. The game went ahead.
Aside from not having adequate contingency plans I am not sure exactly what WR could have done differently. Allowing the game to be played at a different location or date would have meant that the other games would have also needed to be rescheduled. Scotland were demanding special treatment.
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There’s no way for Japan to join the 6N. Doesn’t really make sense. The RC could admit them and go to one fixture vs each team. They’d have room for a sixth side, in that case – and the tournament might make enough cash to do this, with a rolling place for Fiji/Samoa/Tonga or whatever. Or, at least, one team would have a bye week every week and could play a fixture against a minnow.
The major issue becomes the lack of a global calendar. If there is some way of getting rugby played at the same times everywhere, that would provide dedicated rest periods for players, prevent Jack Lam-style club vs country rows, and so on.
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Enzo – it’s a good pub conversation but not viable when you think about it.
Would love to see it when hypersonic jets replace cars though.
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@Ticht
Yup. Dodson wouldn’t have been doing his job if he hadn’t been trying to get the game played and kicking back against the total lack of actual contingency planning by WR.
This is separate to the fact of a massive Typhoon causing widespread damage and death, and needs not detract from the impacts and emergency response before anyone starts.
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Personally I’d be fine with December and January being the entire world’s off season and moving pro rugby to NH summer. There must be some logistical headaches. There would also be major resistance to change even if it’s a great idea on the numbers (I’m not saying it is, I have no numbers, just ideas).
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I honestly think all the QFs could go either way, the Blackness is obviously the one that you’d think where the favourite will do the do, but I reckon Ireland have been playing below themselves since our match and they have a lot more to bring to the table.
I don’t think they’ve been deliberately playing off par, but if and when they click they are pretty formidable.
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‘prevent Jack Lam-style club vs country rows, and so on’
French clubs are bastards.
Worse than thieving norn gibbons.
But maybe not PRL.
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Personally I hope this does go to a court of law, WR’s contingency arrangements and pre-tournament agreements will have to be made public knowledge
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“pre-tournament agreements”
The agreement that Scotland signed where they agreed to the rules regarding game cancellations will be the important one.
The lack of any legally binding documents stating that games would be rescheduled in the event of enforced cancellations will also be significant.
I am absolutely no fan of WR, but they’ll win this one on these grounds.
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Personally I hope I never hear of it again.
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literally everyone involved looks a tit.
And the game happened and was a cracker.
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‘Personally I hope I never hear of it again.’
Ha ha.
this is going to run for aaaaages.
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end of.
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Can I have the official line on who are this week’s bad guys now that McEvil has been banished to the outer realms?
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England obviously. Goes without saying in perpetuity.
Also SA as they’ll ruin everything and knock Japan out.
The rest are great lads.
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NZ v Ireland. Ireland have a good record vs NZ over recent years. Ireland retain possession better than anyone and NZ clearly don’t like the maul. That said, Ireland haven’t been in great form of late and the pace and power of the NZ game will worry Ireland. NZ look confident and strong. NZ by 9. Both evil
Japan vs SA. A bridge too far for Japan. SA will come with a plan to constrict and their set piece will be key. Japan will threaten, and score a few great tries, but SA are just too strong and organised. SA by 18. Neither seem particularly evil, but SA ending Japan’s fairytale makes them evil
England vs Australia. Australia are due a win against England, and they do have some very good players if it “clicks”. Won’t happen this time. England too good across the park and Australia too indisciplined and error-prone. England by 15. Could you get any more evil than Jones vs Cheika?
Wales vs France. Wales have been committed and organised. Some spark from G Davies and Adams is in fine form, that said, they don’t seem to have that many tries in them and their set piece has struggled a bit. Scrum in particular will have France excited. This source of penalties will wear Wales down. If JD2 is not fit, then there will be problems out wide for Vakatawa and Vaka to exploit. The young France halves seem less likely to flake than is traditional. Wales’ BR + AWJ will have to play out of their skins. Close but France by 2. Neither especially evil, but both more on the evil side than the not-evil side
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I don’t know. I maintain that currently neither NZ or Ireland are especially evil.
The winner of that match will, however, become a squad full of Ashtons overnight.
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@Dova
Ruthless faux-humble dressing room scrubbers who would definitely have natural disaster affected games rescheduled if needed vs The all evil scowlin’, roostin’, floppin’, maulin’ ref manipulators?
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Pro – Just standard badness, nothing outstanding. Both capable of becoming temporarily evil but missing the vital ingredients that would make them inherently so.
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England by 8 – forward domination creates Aussie frustration
NZ by 8 – Heart says Ireland but Nz just too god at killing your mistakes – long range tries probably.
SA by 15 – just too much for Japan to manage but SA could screw it up by conceding too many kickable penalties
France by 6 – unless Wales get back row domination. France showing some good stuff amongst the dross and the backs are excellent – plus they have the best winger.
* all highly subject to games being 15 vs 15 – all four matches have the clear potential for a red card.
** CJPN out for England – possibly BV too, which is not so serious as Curry/Underhill/Wilson looks a good fit for this game
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can’t see France beating Wales.
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@slade
“long range tries probably”
Yes, this is where I see Ireland coming unstuck – much as SA did.
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Why long range tries?
I mean, if the difference between the sides is one’s ability to run in tries from their own half you’d have to think they’ll run in a few short range tries as well,
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‘Why long range tries?’
It’s in their DNA
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We do always seem to get the Aussies? Is that in their DNA?
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Predictably, this has got legs
“Rugby World Cup: ‘SRU chief Mark Dodson stance was no affront to rugby'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50053022
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I’m just back from seeing Joker, I’m going to be lazy and just post Mark Kermode’s review as he often tells me what I think about a film.
Joaquin Phoenix was mesmerising, Heath Ledger’s clown shoes required something special to fill them, but Phoenix does it.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/06/joker-review-joaquin-phoenix-ace-turn
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On the edge isn’t quite the shaft of all shafts but it’s a good starting point.
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Yes, I thought that might cause the denizens of the notablog to sit up and take notice, Yos
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The 2011 semi feels like it was only yesterday. I thought I’d done a pretty good job at repressing it for the past 8 years, but it’s all come flooding back.
Not The 50 Shades of Grey.
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Ticht – going to see the joker on Saturday with Mrs Craig’s. Nandos and a chick flick cos I’m a romantic at heart.
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SA, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tunisia
SA in this comp with a full strength side does nothing for anyone. And maybe World Rugby should focus on organising a World Cup with proper planning and contingencies than playing the Donald Trump role.
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Ticht – is any of the backlash justified?
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What Scotland should have done:
1. Not threatened legal action
2. Not accused WR of – let’s face it – corruption, by claiming other countries would have been treated differently
3. Not demanded to be treated differently to other teams facing cancellations
4. Wait until the game was actually cancelled before throwing a wobbler.
5. Joined the Canadian team for help with the cleanup for a bit of PR.
Otherwise it might have looked as if they were whining and demanding compensation just a few hours before a natural disaster, during and after which a large number of people worked really hard to ensure their game could go ahead. Which they then got spanked in,
People whose homes were badly damaged slept in the stadium to ensure the venue was ready for the game. This was happening while people who essentially wanted the same outcome were ‘lawyering up’.
Mark Dodson made himself look like a right nob. He needs to apologise to the organizers of the tournament and the SRU should make a hefty donation to any sort of fund dealing with the typhoon recovery.
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FD has a new rival
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South Africa already does some work in Africa and Africa already has its own competition, imaginatively called the Africa Cup.
And the Weltwischias play in the Currie Cup, as does an Argentinian side. And the Kenyans had a team for a season or two in the Vodacom Cup a few years back.
Namibia and Zimbabwean kids play Craven Week and the better players get picked up by Universities in SA and play Varsity Cup.
Tunisia used to play in European competition. Maybe they could do both.
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OT, I saw that the other day. Very good.
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Craigs, your comment earlier about leaving the whole thing behind would be the best idea, for everyone concerned. The last thing anyone needs is further digging. Cheikas comments about England having pre warning of the cancellation, allowing them to move to training base early, is a prime example. Next thing you know is whistleblowers will start revealing odd conversations and texts, and the whole thing will end up in a huge fucking scandal, overshadowing the game itself and the whole world cup.
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Dodson’s aim was to put pressure on the organizers to not dare to cancel the game.
Dodson inadvertently then put a lot of pressure on the ‘boots on the ground’ people working to try and get the venue ready.
Many of these people and their families were not ensconced safely in typhoon proof hotels.
He should have considered things other than ‘the success of the Scotland team’ and kept his mouth shut.
Seeing as the game went ahead, and his team lost, I bet he now wishes he had.
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I have a distinct impression that Garces as a ref has quite a good take on scrums, liking to see the ball played, rather than waiting for a minute for the side that already has clean possession to keep the ball in, collapse the scrum and get an unnecessary penalty. Quite like that idea.
Also think he has a tendency to let the breakdown become a bit of a free for all, not sure I like that.
Anyone got any more informed opinions?
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Nah. That one’s fine.
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SBT – we’ve got previous for this sort of thing. Other people should learn from our mistakes. I fell out of love with rugby a little after the fall out from 2011.*
* then fell back in after Lanks took charge. Such honest gentleman would go far right? **
** if eddy fucks this up I’m going to start drinking in the morning again.
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I think the solution is to kick England and Australia out in that case. Unsporting Bastards! New Zealand will have to forfeit their semi on the basis of being Bigger Bastards than either. France and Wales should just fuck off for having the temerity of wanting to contest the Cup when everyone knows Japan vs Boks is The People’s Final. May the best team win. As long as they’re wearing green.
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Irealnd didnt even make the analysis
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