DAMNED BEFORE THE STORM
Ex-Scotland star blasts organisers for leaving Toony on brink of farcical exit Wright says if English or All Blacks had been in same boat it wouldn’t happen Says SRU have no clout and whole world wants Japan to make quarters
HURRICANE HAGGIS hit Peter Wright’s storm path last night and he insists the weather can’t be allowed to take the wind from Scotland’s World Cup sails.
The former Dark Blues prop believes the integrity of Japan 2019 is at stake as doubts continue over Sunday’s Pool A decider between Gregor Townsend’s side and the host nation going ahead.
With Super Typhoon Hagibis projected to reach Yokohama this weekend World Rugby have yet to confirm any contingency plans if the Nissan Stadium is out of bounds.
Scotland lie third in their group and need to defeat Japan – and take four more points than the hosts – to progress to the knockout stage.
Tomorrow’s Pool B match between New Zealand and Italy in Toyota has already been cancelled, denying Italy their outside chance of qualifying with both teams being awarded two points.
Such a scenario would see Scotland knocked out with Ireland, should they beat Samoa, and Japan advancing to the knockout stages.
But Wright said: “The whole thing is a total farce. I appreciate the weather is outwith anyone’s control but not to have contingency plans already in place is a shambles.
“You can guarantee had it been England or New Zealand who were maybe not going to qualify World Rugby would find a way to get their games played.
“Everyone knows they want Japan to qualify. They want a tiertwo nation through so they can sit up there in their ivory tower and say they don’t discriminate against tier-two nations.
“The problem the SRU has is it has absolutely no clout at World Rugby. We’re seen as an irrelevance and that is compounded by the fact nobody in the world wants to see Japan lose. If you ask every rugby fan across the globe who’s not Scottish I guarantee 99 per cent of them want Japan to progress.
“I’d probably say the same if I wasn’t Scottish as they’re the fairytale story but not if they do it this
way. If Japan beat us on Sunday fair and square that’s fine but to win on a default would be so wrong.”
Townsend has put his faith in the organisers to ensure Scotland are given the chance to play their way into the quarter-finals.
But Wright added: “Look at Italy’s game with New Zealand. It’s a joke it isn’t getting played as the Italians can still qualify. You could say that probably won’t happen but they still have the chance so it’s about the integrity of the competition.
“England’s game with France has been cancelled but you can understand that logic as they’re both already through. But when a team still has an opportunity to qualify the game has to be played.
“It’s garbage to just award both teams a nil-nil draw. That’s just ruining the competition. It’s all down to the typhoon now. World Rugby have said they’ll be sticking to the rules and spoke about the logistics being too difficult to rearrange which frankly is a load of s **** .
“Why can’t the game be played behind closed doors? If it had been Ireland against Japan, England against Japan or New Zealand against Japan they’d have already have found a way to play the game.”
If the weather transpires to beat Scotland on Sunday it will be yet another way for the nation to lament extraordinary failure at a major sporting event.
But Wright believes it’s more than fate that could work against Toony’s side. He said: “Japan are the home nation and have been able to put their own schedule together which I get as we would all do the same. Japan have had the big gaps between games and look at the refereeing decisions they’ve had in their favour.
“I’m not saying it’s deliberate but it’s a subconscious thing with the referees. They were given three penalties against Ireland which they scored from which Ireland were told should never have been penalties.
“Against Samoa they penalise a squint scrum to set up a Japan a bonus-point try when they haven’t penalised one all game. You have a wee chip on your shoulder because we’re Scottish and things seems to transpire against us.”
It remains to be seen if Hurricane Haggis leaves Scotland sick to their stomach but Wright said: “This typhoon hasn’t taken anyone by surprise so surely they could have moved the venue a few days ago.
“The country isn’t that big, it’s not Russia or America which has a number of different time zones. So to say it’s logistically impossible to do that is for me bizarre.
“The laws of any competition are already in place and you sign up to them in good faith. We understand that but every competition has to protect its own integrity and now it’s being devalued.
“If these games were between teams which were already out then there would be no issues. It would be completely wrong to allow any team to go through by default.”