Sorry shambles leaves a stain but it is only a game
Whether or not Scotland’s final group game against Japan took place this morning, the whole sorry shambles surrounding the fixture has left an indelible stain on the 2019 Rugbyworld Cup.
It has moved the focus of the competition far from where it should be – the rugby.
The competition was awarded to Japan 10 years ago.
The tournament runs at the time of year when Japan’s domestic rugby season takes place, albeit this also coincides with the typhoon season.
Typhoon Hagibis is the largest typhoon to hit Japan for 60 years. It is 1700km in diameter.
To put that into perspective, the distance from Land’s End to John O’groats is just over 1400km.
So Typhoon Hagibis would engulf the whole of the United Kingdom, and more.
These, therefore, are extraordinary circumstances, perhaps only occurring a couple of times each century.
World Rugby have been at pains to say that they had put in place contingency plans to deal with exceptional weather.
Despite this, the typhoon has taken everyone by surprise, and those contingency plans may well have been inadequate for a natural phenomenon such as this.
But it does beg the question, why did World Rugby leave themselves in a situation that poured scorn on their ability to run the competition properly, and left supporters – many of whom had spent thousands to travel the 11,500 miles to back Gregor Townsend’s team – in the dark for days?
Why couldn’t they have decided as soon as they saw the weather forecast that the game would be postponed rather than have the threat of it being summarily cancelled?
Why couldn’t they have even decided days ago that the match be played behind closed doors?
It may be the case that World Rugby considered these options, but they have appeared more intent on sticking by their guns and their contention that Scotland knew what they had signed up for when the SRU put pen to paper on the pretournament contract.
What would have happened had the typhoon arrived a week earlier, when the group matches were in full flow and rest days would have been seriously impacted?
Would the outcome have been different if a tournament favourite had been involved?
Could the whole competition have been pushed back so that teams had adequate rest?
Do New Zealand, England and France now have an unfair advantage because they have a weekend off rugby?
All of these are valid questions. At the end of the day, judgments have to be made by the organisers well in advance and they should have thought things through in great detail during the planning process.
All of the competing countries have signed up to the Participation Agreement, which lays out everything in great and often minute detail.
The consequences of these highly-unusual weather conditions were clear – matches would be cancelled and teams would get two points each.
That the SRU are now threatening to sue seems bizarre, but it is easy to understand their anger and frustration as the circumstances meant they were facing elimination from the competition without taking to the field.
Had Scotland performed against Ireland, perhaps circumstances would be different.
One needs to spare a thought for the players, too.
They like certainty in preparation, and this situation must have been hugely unsettling for both teams.
The Japanese will have been more relaxed as they knew they would progress if the game was cancelled.
And one final point.
Life will go on for most people once the typhoon passes, but at the time of writing two people have lost their lives to Typhoon Hagibis.
Rugby is only a game.
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