World Rugby charges SRU over Dodson’s storm stance

● Scotland referred to disputes committee

The Scottish Rugby Union was issued with misconduct charges yesterday for comments made about the potential cancellation of the Rugby World Cup match against Japan.

Three games were called off by tournament organisers and the Japan v Scotland game in Yokohama on Sunday was also placed in doubt due to Typhoon Hagibis.

The destructive mega storm struck on Saturday, leaving dozens of people dead on Japan’s main island.

Scotland, while stressing that publicly safety was paramount, had campaigned vigorously for the game to go ahead.

The Scots needed to beat Japan to have any hope of advancing to the knockout stages, and Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson announced he had taken legal advice as he pushed for the game to be postponed rather than scrapped in the event of typhoon damage.

But Dodson and the SRU could now face punishment for their “comments and behaviours”.

World Rugby has confirmed it will convene a hearing of its independent disputes committee, in light of Dodson’s comments last week.

Despite the storm, World Cup organisers managed to stage the match on Sunday, with Japan defeating the Scots 28-21 and reaching the quarter-finals at their foes’ expense.

But now Scotland could face sanction for their conduct in the days leading up to that clash.

“We’ve referred to the independent disputes committee the comments and behaviours of the Scottish Rugby Union,” said Alan Gilpin, World Rugby’s chief operating officer.

“On that basis it’s probably inappropriate to comment any further.”

Dodson revealed he had taken legal advice during a snap press conference last Friday.

Asked if further legal action could be a possible step if the game was scrapped, Dodson said: “I think our view is that we

have to reflect on that matter at that time. This is a glorious, world-class sporting occasion. We don’t want to be the people that taint that. But we also don’t want to be the collateral damage of this.

“And that’s why we took the legal route. It was just to say we’ve had a different opinion, two different opinions, one from the QC, that challenges that rigidity over scheduling.”

Typhoon Hagibis forced the cancellation of England against France and New Zealand’s clash with Italy, with Canada and Namibia’s meeting in Kamaishi also falling foul of japan’ s biggest

ALAN GILPIN “We’ve referred to the disputes committee the comments and behaviours of the SRU”

storm since 1958. Rugby World Cup rules state that any pool-stage match deemed unplayable due to the weather cannot be staged on a different day.

Scotland felt those regulations were open to challenge due to “force majeure” measures, with Dodson demanding a “common sense approach”.

Gilpin, who expressed sympathy for families who lost loved ones in the typhoon, insisted yesterday that all appropriate tournament rules had been followed. He said the cancellation rules were not new for this tournament, the first Rugby World Cup in Asia.

“No decisions were made based on pressure from unions,” Gilpin said of the decision to go ahead with the Japan-scotland game. “Putting any match on is complex and to put it on in these circumstances is remarkable.

“There are members of the venue staff who slept in the venue to make sure they could start assessing the impact. There were people working whose houses had been destroyed that day.”

World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper also rejected suggestions that organisers bowed to pressure from critics to ensure the game went ahead.

“Some of the [reported] comments were disappointing. Without dwelling on that, we were not influenced by conversations and comments,” Gosper said.

The SRU has not responded publicly to the charge as yet.

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