Effects of uneven scheduling to play out

ODAWARA: A mouthwatering Rugby World Cup quarterfinal schedule should provide answers to one of the sport’s enduring questions.

Do teams get peak performance from a bye week or from regular games?

The unwelcome intrusion of typhoon Hagibis on the final weekend of pool play has created a glaring discrepancy in three of the quarterfinals.

Only the clash between the unbeaten host and South Africa in Tokyo pits two teams to have completed their allotment of four games.

Before that, Oita hosts England against Australia and France versus Wales, while threetime champion New Zealand faces Ireland in Tokyo.

The English, French and All Blacks are coming off final pool games that were cancelled as a result of the atrocious weather.

Their respective opponents all played, setting up a debate over who drew the short straws.

There can be little conjecture over the world ranking system, with the eight toprated teams filling out the playoff berths.

Interest will continue to centre on the Japanese fairytale, although they will be the biggest outsiders in any of the four games, given their comparative lack of experience and size against the thunderous Boks.

Yet the seventhranked Brave Blossoms have defied expectations, thoroughly deserving of wins over Ireland and Scotland.

It leaves Japan among an elite clutch of unbeaten teams alongside topthree ranked powerhouses New Zealand, Wales and England.

Japan’s triumph over Scotland lowered the curtain on the pool phase in a blaze of excitement and poignancy, the match in Yokohama falling 24 hours after Hagibis had assaulted the host nation.

The other contender for best game was the All Blacks’ opening weekend heavyweight defeat of South Africa.

Wales’ wins over Australia and Fiji also captured the imagination, while Uruguay was the minnow who punched above its weight best.

However, the 2019 pool phase will be most remembered for nature’s destructive impact and the chaos it created for World Rugby.

The governing body’s decision to schedule the tournament in typhoon season stirred conjecture. Yet the upshot is an unprecedented imbalance in the knockout phase that will forever be marked with an asterisk. — AAP

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Pace to burn . . . Gareth Davies, of Wales, evades Uruguay’s Tomas Inciarte as he breaks away to score his team’s fifth try during the group D game at Kumamoto Stadium on Sunday night. Wales topped the pool and will play France in the quarterfinals.