The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Fate should be decided on the pitch – Townsend
Scots head coach optimistic group decider will go ahead
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend continues to have faith the crunch match with Japan will take place on Sunday in Yokohama when Typhoon Hagibis will have blown through and calm weather is expected.
The Scots remain firmly of the view that the game should be played at some point and their future in the tournament decided rightly and properly on the playing field.
Shortly after World Rugby announced their decision to cancel two of tomorrow’s games in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, Scottish Rugby released a strongly-worded statement indicating they expected contingency plans to be in place for the game to be played.
Townsend was more conciliatory, detecting from the tone of World Rugby’s decision not to cancel Sunday games an indication they were confident those contests would go on as scheduled.
“We believe the game hasn’t been cancelled because the weather forecast is much improved for Sunday,” he said. “It looks like the game will be played and that’s what we have to keep faith with.
“They have made the call with a lot of certainty and a lot of confidence that the game will go ahead on Sunday night. I would hope everyone who is involved in the tournament would want the game to be played and that they will do all they can to ensure it is.”
This could mean playing at a different venue in the Tokyo area if the Yokohama Stadium is inaccessible or playing the game behind closed doors if fan safety is compromised, he believed.
“The situation is changing a lot but what we have been told is that Sunday looks clear now,” he continued.
“Saturday is the day when the typhoon comes in and it comes in quite quickly. I have looked at the weather and Sunday night looks to be quite calm.
“What might happen is that the infrastructure might not be in place even although the weather is nice, and that’s where we have to believe and have faith in the organisers that the game will be played even if it’s behind closed doors or at a different venue.
“Who knows how severe the storm will be on Saturday. But it looks as though conditions will be fine on Sunday and it’s a night-time kick off which gives us some extra time.”
A possible decision to cancel the game might not be necessary, he argued. “This is the Rugby World Cup, the biggest tournament that we play in, played every four years and the third-biggest sporting event in the world,” he said. “Obviously we are involved in a game where a winner can go through with certain points and a loser could not go through.