Typhoon strands England squad

ENGLAND’S bid for a second World Cup got off to an inauspicious start as the fallout from Typhoon Faxai left them stranded at Japan’s Narita International Airport for five hours.

Eddie Jones’ squad were marooned as a result of the damage caused by the ferocious winds of 105mph and torrential rain that battered Tokyo overnight.

Scores of flights were cancelled, while Australia delayed their arrival in order to avoid one of the worst storms in the Japanese capital’s history.

England’s flight landed shortly after its scheduled time, but it was then that their problems began.

Following an hour-long wait before disembarking from their British Airways plane due to the shortage of buses, they were then told that their transfer into Tokyo was unable to reach the airport because of congestion.

Main roads feeding Narita – which lies 66km away from the team hotel in Shiodome – were gridlocked because of the destruction caused by the typhoon, while all trains were suspended.

When their coaches eventually arrived after hours spent waiting in the business lounge, England headed to Shiodome where they will stay one night before departing for a pre-tournament training camp in Miyazaki.

Adding to England’s troubled arrival into Japan was a rebuke from World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper for comments made by Jones last month.

Shortly after Wales had been dispatched at Twickenham on August 11, Jones launched an incoherent attack on the sport’s global overlords for the inconsistency of referees, the absence of common sense when making decisions and a lack of clarity over the dangerous tackle law.

Gosper told the PA news agency: “You can’t help but smile sometimes! These coaches are under a lot of pressure.”