Typhoon Hagibis Japan: England vs France Rugby World Cup match under threat as tropical storm closes in

Coming this way: Typhoon Hagibis is on course to hit Japan on Saturday (Image from Windy.com)
Will Macpherson12 October 2019

Fears over the final weekend of Rugby World Cup pool action intensified today as ‘super typhoon’ Hagibis continued on its course to Tokyo, which has also been struck by earthquakes.

No World Cup match has ever been cancelled before, but the prospect of England’s pool decider against France in Yokohama on Saturday becoming the first is increasingly real. World Rugby are monitoring the situation and will hold a press conference tomorrow.

Hagibis was originally feared to wreck Ireland’s key Pool A clash against Samoa in Fukuoka on Saturday, but the changing path of the tropical storm means games in Tokyo and Yokohama are now most at threat.

Scotland, who today thrashed Russia 61-0, face Japan in a crunch qualification clash at Yokohama on Sunday, by which point the worst of the weather is hoped to have passed. The ramifications of a cancellation would be far more grave for Gregor Townsend’s team than England, who would top Pool C and line up a likely quarter-final with Australia here next weekend.

One of the issues for tournament organisers to consider when judging whether to move or cancel the matches is the size of the stadium in Yokohama, the biggest at the tournament and the host of the final. Simply moving the game would be problematic, because nowhere else would have the capacity to house the same number of fans, with many travelling from all over the world for the games. Broadcasters would find a cancellation difficult to tolerate.

Prior to the start of the tournament, Typhoon Faxai killed three people, but Hagibis is set to be considerably more powerful. Today, the typhoon — the 19th to hit the country this year — was moving north-west at a speed of 12mph.

The Japan Meteorological Agency have graded it “violent” — the highest rating — but the hope is that it will weaken as it gets closer to landfall.

Robert Speta, a meteorologist specialising in typhoons who now works for the US Navy but was previously employed in Japan, said to the Japan Times: “The storm went from a tropical storm to a violent typhoon in the matter of hours.

“In fact, it was an historic amount of intensification in such a short time. This only happens when all the right ingredients are in place.”

To top things off, an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale hit Tokyo this morning, followed by a 3.5-magnitude tremor this evening.

World Rugby today insisted that team and public safety is their No1 priority, while England were determined not to let the threat affect their final ­preparations.

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“We are looking forward to playing France — wherever that may be,”

said England’s defence coach John Mitchell. “Our preparation is totally focused and we don’t let that noise enter our preparation. We’re expecting rain, but if we don’t get it we’ll deal with it.

“We haven’t had a lot of rain in the last few months so it will be quite nice to feel like home!”

Hagibis could also affect this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, with organisers ­making ­contingency plans if Friday and Saturday’s qualifying or Sunday’s race fall foul of the weather.

Forecasters have predicted that the race venue is likely to be more ­heavily hit on Saturday, meaning that qualifying may have to be postponed.

Current forecasts predict that Hagibis will have passed through the area by the time of Sunday’s race.

Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, said they were in continuous contact with meteorologists, Suzuka circuit bosses and the sport’s owners, Liberty Media, over any contingency plans.

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