Simon Raiwalui and Samu Kerevi: How Wallabies Beat Storm
Australia Rugby Union forwards coach, Simon Raiwalui, said they were fortunate that they travelled to their camp site soon after the game against Georgia last Friday night.
By then, all trains and planes in and out of Tokyo on Saturday had been cancelled with Typhoon Hagibis on its way.
The Wallabies opted to drive to Odawara, 64km south of Tokyo, on the team’s bus and arrived in the town at around 3am (Japan time) on Saturday morning.
Initially the side intended to return to Tokyo on Saturday before flying to Oita for their quarter-final on Monday. Typhoon Hagibis made landfall near Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture just before 7pm Saturday.
Mr Raiwalui said: “We were pretty lucky as we travelled after our match directly to our next hotel. Because we were there early, we settled in when the typhoon hit. It was obviously very strong with a lot of rain, but we were safe inside so we were not at risk.” Samu Kerevi in an interview with the Australian Rugby Union media team said he was grateful to management for organising and controlling their movement and to get them safely to Odawara. He said it was a “hectic” night of travel for the team but said he was grateful that players, staff and their families managed to make it to Odawara and to security. From Odawara, Mr Raiwalui said the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky yesterday. In Osaka, rugby player Jojo Lilidamu said there was not much damage in the area. Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup pool match Namibia versus Canada in Kamaishi was cancelled yesterday after Typhoon Hagibis. Other matches went ahead as scheduled - USA vs Tonga and Wales vs Uruguay.