Samoa in Ireland’s way
FUKUOKA, Japan - The uncertainties whipped up by Typhoon Hagibis have proved an unwelcome distraction for Ireland at the World Cup and they will be hoping their full focus returns in time for the crunch pool match against Samoa today.
Ireland need a bonus point win against the Samoans in Fukuoka to be sure of a quarterfinal spot but their final resting place in Pool A may be taken out of their hands.
The Scotland-Japan game in Yokohama on Sunday is under threat from the super typhoon and if cancelled — like two other pool matches that were scheduled on Saturday — Ireland’s best hope will be finishing runners-up in the group behind the hosts.
While that would still ensure quarter-final action, Joe Schmidt’s team would end up facing the defending champions New Zealand rather than the potentially more attractive prospect of Pool B runners-up South Africa.
Schmidt said the players’ minds had naturally wandered after World Rugby confirmed the seriousness of the typhoon on Thursday by calling off the France-England and New Zealand-Italy pool matches.
“Any time there is something up in the air and something is unknown... you get players who are going to talk about that,” Schmidt told reporters.
“But we’ve got to make sure, as I said, that our game gets finished with the right result for us. I’m sure the Samoans are coming out to make sure that’s as difficult for us as possible.”
In the southwestern island of Kyushu, Fukuoka is far from the expected trajectory of the typhoon, giving Ireland a chance to find form against the already eliminated Samoans before the knockout rounds.