Super Typhoon Hagibis sees two World Cup games cancelled

England’s Rugby World Cup game against France has been cancelled due to Super Typhoon Hagibis.

Coach Eddie Jones confirmed that his side will leave Tokyo for Miyazaki, the location for England’s pre-tournament training camp.

“We found out officially this morning but there were rumours flying around last night so we were glued to our phone last night,” Jones said.

“We didn’t really care (when hearing the news). We were preparing for the game in game mode and now the game is off, we’re in preparation mode. We can’t control it.

“We’re told what to do. There’s no use speculating on the alternatives. We’re excited about having great preparation for the quarter-finals.

“We’ll have a short pre-season camp in Miyazaki and then we’re off to Oita. We have an exceptional record in two-week preparations.”

A sign outside of the Yokohama Stadium.

World Cup tournament director Alan Gilpin confirmed at World Rugby’s press conference that the clash with France has been cancelled, along with New Zealand’s match against Italy. Which means that New Zealand top their group and will face the second placed team from Ireland’s pool in the quarter-finals.

Sunday’s Pool A games – including Scotland v Japan – remains under review, but Ireland’s game with Samoa on Saturday is unaffected

World Cup chiefs delayed a decision on scrapping Sunday’s crucial clash with Japan until the morning of the game.

Gregor Townsend’s team are scheduled to travel to the city on Friday even though they still have no firm guarantees the win-or-bust clash with the hosts at the International Stadium will go ahead.

If the match is cancelled, the Scots would be controversially blown out of the competition without kicking another ball – a shock move that is certain to spark a huge outcry from the Scotland faithful.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *