.. and F1 is also facing an ill wind
THE Rugby World Cup was plunged into deep crisis last night when it emerged one of the showpiece games of the entire tournament is set to be abandoned.
England against France in Yokohama is a fixture thousands of fans from both sides of the Channel have booked wildly expensive 12,000-mile round trips to attend.
It was always going to be the decisive fixture in Pool C, the game that determined which nation made a statement by winning the group.
But today it is expected to be called off, declared a 0-0 draw, with two points going to each nation and, as a result, England winning the pool without leaving their hotel. Nobody is questioning the wisdom of not playing in the terrifying storm meteorologists say is on a collision course with Tokyo on Saturday.
Winds as high as 170mph and rainfall of up to 10 inches would clearly pose a threat to life and limb of the
70,000 sell-out crowd.
But the organisers’ failure to factor in to the schedule sufficient wriggle room is a massive error of judgement – one with profound implications for the entire tournament.
Le Crunch has a rich history in the Rugby World Cup, from Mick Skinner’s ‘monster’ hit on Marc Cecillon in the 1991 SCOTLAND are facing a World Cup blow-out – despite thrashing Russia 61-0.
George Horne scored a hat-trick of tries but the Scots’ joy (right) could be short-lived, with
World Rugby considering calling off their all-ornothing Sunday showdown with Japan – a move that would see Scotland out of the tournament without playing.
Super Typhoon
Hagibis is set to wreak havoc, threatening both
Scotland-japan on
Sunday and quarter-final to victory for Marc Lievremont’s mutineers over England at the same stage in 2011 (below).
In between there were unforgettable semi-final clashes,
both won by England,
through Jonny Wilkinson’s boot in Sydney in 2003 and Joe Worsley’s tap tackle in Paris four years later.
So this is a huge fixture, one that the northern hemisphere’s two biggest unions have spent four years building towards.
Everyone knows this is typhoon season in Japan. So why is there no scope to delay matches by a couple of days to let Super Typhoon Hagibis do its worst and move on?
It is entirely the right decision to bring the World Cup to this land. It is a new frontier for rugby and not one person I have spoken to thinks it anything but a fabulous move.
But you absolutely have to maintain the credibility of the competition and pulling the plug on a key match in this way does not do that.
There simply had to be greater flexibility for this eventuality written into the schedule.
England-france is actually relatively straightforward in at least both teams are already qualified. But what Scotland would then finish below Japan in third place, eliminating them without a chance to overhaul the hosts.
Possible scenarios:
Pool A – Already below Japan, a draw would mean Scotland would finish behind the hosts, with Ireland needing just a draw to finish in the top two on Saturday.
Pool C – A 0-0 draw in the final game between the top two would mean they finish as they are, with England first and France runners-up. about host nation Japan, due to play Scotland on Sunday in Yokohama?
Both can still qualify as can Ireland, but not all three. Abandon the fixture and you have to tell Scotland they are out. Sorry. Shut the door, safe flight home.
There is no way organisers can be seen to give the hosts a free pass to the quarter-finals. It would create a terrible perception, one that it’s hard to see how it would recover from. THE Japanese Grand Prix has been thrown into turmoil this weekend as Typhoon Hagibis threatens to cancel Saturday’s qualifying session.
Formula One chiefs are monitoring the potential disruption that could come from the super typhoon, which is set to hit Suzuka.
Forecasts suggest it will be at its most disruptive on Saturday, with violent winds and heavy rain.
The worst conditions could see gusts of up to 140mph hit the Suzuka Circuit, so qualifying could be delayed or postponed and one of the possibilities is to host a Super Sunday, with the shoot-out for pole taking place on the morning of the grand prix.
F1’s governing body the FIA are liaising with circuit officials, with a decision set to be announced today.