The dramatic weather is making the Rugby World Cup even more unpredictable

Just when you thought the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals were taking shape, Mother Nature intervenes.

What should be a thrilling climax to the pool stage in Japan is now under genuine threat from what is forecast to be the most powerful typhoon of the year. It is the third major storm to target to Japan since the world’s media descended on the country last month, and Typhoon Hagibis – described as a “super typhoon” – is already “among the most explosive rapid intensifications of any tropical cyclone on record anywhere on Earth”.

There are a lot of words in that statement, provided by the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, that fill you with fear. But it’s fair to note that the last two to hit Japan, Typhoon Faxai and Typhoon Mitag, transpired to have no impact on the tournament and caused only brief disruption to a country experienced at handling such events.

However, the rugby union community is far from used to it. Two years ago a tremor in Christchurch during the British and Irish Lions tour had journalists fearing the worst, only for locals who experienced the tragedy of the 2011 disaster to confirm it was a regular occurrence and to “get on with it”. So, faced with worst typhoon of the year, we can be forgiven for being a little jumpy on any and every weather update that arrives as the weekend approaches.

But there is another unusual aspect to all of this, because if Hagibis fails to weaken on its approach to Japan, writers expecting to cover the weekend games in Yokohama have no idea where we will be instead.

World Rugby has the provision to relocate games if it fears extreme weather will force them to be cancelled, but given the sheer size of Hagibis – early satellite images suggest it is larger than Japan itself – games will have to be moved a long way from the hub of Yokohama and Tokyo.

That could result in teams, writers and fans finding themselves in a rush to book flights as far north as Sapporo or as far south as Oita. Fans have already shelled out hugely on travel packages and match tickets; will they be compensated? Check the small print, but you already know the answer, don’t you?

Yours,

Jack de Menezes

Deputy sports editor