Rugby World Cup 2019: Players and coaches hit out at ‘ridiculous’ decision to cancel games due to super typhoon

Leading players and coaches have hit out at World Rugby’s decision to cancel two matches at the Rugby World Cup on Thursday, with Italian great Sergio Parisse labelling the move “ridiculous” and the looming threat of legal action materialising if Scotland’s showdown with Japan is cancelled.

Sunday’s pool-stage finale is under serious threat of either being played behind closed doors, or cancelled altogether, which would send Scotland crashing out of the competition and hand hosts Japan a free pass into the quarter-finals for the first time.

It would come as the third match cancellation due to Typhoon Hagibis, with Saturday’s games featuring England and France, and New Zealand vs Italy, called off as the largest tropical cyclone to hit Japan in 60 years approaches with 160mph winds and heavy fain.

England were more than happy to leave Tokyo immediately upon the decision being made public and head for the southern city of Miyazaki, well out of harm’s way and where they spent nine days before the tournament began.

But other nations were not so content, with the Italian camp feeling particularly aggrieved after the cancellation of their match with the All Blacks not only cost them their chances of reaching the quarter-finals, but robbed a number of their players of a World Cup farewell as they head towards retirement. Captain Parisse led the criticism of World Rugby, claiming that the failure to have a back-up Plan B for matches when holding a tournament in the middle of typhoon season was “ridiculous”.

"It is difficult to know that we won’t have the chance to play a match against one of the great teams,” said Parisse. "If New Zealand needed four or five points against us it would not have been cancelled.

"It is ridiculous that a decision of this nature has been made because it isn’t like the fans arrived yesterday. It is ridiculous that there was no Plan B, because it isn’t news that typhoons hit Japan.

"Sure, everyone might think that Italy versus New Zealand being cancelled counts for nothing because we’d have lost anyway, but we deserved to be respected as a team.

"We had the chance to play in a big stadium, against a great team. The alternative is Plan B. When you organise a World Cup you should have one in place. Sure, if Italy and New Zealand decide they don’t want to play, then fine but, as I said before, if New Zealand needed the points, it wouldn’t have been cancelled."

Parisse was supported by his coach Conor O’Shea, who looks to have taken charge of his final game as Italy boss, and the Irishman was keen to highlight the heartbreak his senior players had felt when they discovered their final pool match was off.

"For us, it was our next challenge and perhaps for the last time for Sergio, Ale [Alessandro Zanni], and Leo -Leonardo Ghiraldini] to play and the chance to give young players a chance.

"I'm disappointed for the players, the staff and the fans. I'm sure it was a hard decision for World Rugby. But all the other teams whose matches have been cancelled are already through and we were the only ones who had a chance to qualify.

"I'm finding it really difficult and I saw the players' reaction after training and it was horrible because these guys have given their lives to Italian rugby and their World Cup has ended on the training pitch, when it should be on the playing field.”

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Worse could follow though if Scotland’s and Japan’s encounter on Sunday is cancelled. Hagibis is currently expected to make landfall early on Saturday and work its way up the south-east coastline, passing through Yokohama and Tokyo through the day as well as the rest of the Konto region. By the time kick-off is scheduled at the International Stadium Yokohama Sunday, the typhoon is expected to have passed, which is fuelling Scotland’s optimism that the game will go ahead – which Scotland need to happen to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

But the trail of devastation from Hagibis could well mean that fans are unable to travel to the stadium, or that the game has to be called off entirely if it is unsafe to stage the event, and The Independent understands that the SRU are considering legal action if the match is abandoned.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, head coach Gregor Townsend took an optimistic approach that he sees no reason why the game should not go ahead. "We believe that the game hasn’t been cancelled because the weather will be better on Sunday and it looks like the game will be played,” Townsend said. “That’s what we have to put faith in, that they have made that call with a lot of certainty and confidence that the game will be played on Sunday night.

"I hope everyone involved in the tournament wants the game to be played and will do their utmost for the game to be played.

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"I have looked at the weather and Sunday night is meant to be nice and calm. Now what may happen is infrastructure may not be in place, even though the weather is nice. We have got to believe, and have faith in the organisers, that the game will be played, even if it is behind closed doors or played at a different venue."

Teams less affected by the logistical nightmare took a more relaxed view on the tournament changes, with New Zealand boss Steve Hansen claiming the decision was a “no-brainer”. "Everyone knew this was a possibility and we knew what the process would be if it did occur. But when you get a typhoon to the level we're getting, safety's a paramount thing.”

Eddie Jones added: "It's not something you can control. This is the situation. I think it's a wonderful World Cup. You can't help typhoons, we would all like to think we've got the power above and beyond what's on the world at the moment, but we don't and these things happen and you just ride with it."