The decision had been brewing for several days and is now being recorded. The France-England match, which was to be played Saturday in Yokohama (10:15 am French time), is canceled due to the imminent arrival of Typhoon Hagibis on the Japanese coast.
According to the statement issued by World Rugby and the Japanese organizing committee, Hagibis, ranked in category 5, "promises to be the biggest typhoon of the year 2019 and is expected to cause major disruption in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama , Toyota and their surrounding areas all day Saturday, public transportation should be interrupted or severely affected. "
Two points allocated to each team
It is a very hard blow for the fans who made the trip to Japan, but also for the broadcaster TF1 who was counting on this match between France and England to raise his audience of the World Cup. World Rugby commented on the subject: "The decision to cancel these matches has been taken with the utmost seriousness, in order to ensure the safety of the public and the teams." Match tickets for canceled matches will be refunded at the purchase price. "
The two teams, already qualified, are awarded two points with the draw drawn.
This cancellation does not allow the XV of France to be able to challenge England the supremacy of the pool and to offer perhaps a reference game before its quarter-final. But it is the Italians who are the most to be pitied. Indeed, they still had a tiny chance to qualify, provided they beat the … All Blacks.
Japan-Scotland also in the viewfinder
The New Zealand-Italy match, scheduled for Saturday at Toyota, was also canceled. In contrast, the match Ireland-Samoa, scheduled for Saturday in Fukuoka has been maintained, as the meeting Australia-Georgia Friday in Shizuoka.
Other meetings could also be relocated or canceled, depending on the trajectory of the typhoon. But with an additional problem: Japan-Scotland, scheduled for Sunday in Yokohama, is decisive for the qualification, unlike France-England.
A cancellation of this match will result in a necessarily unfair elimination of the Scots, since they could not defend their luck …
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