Could typhoons hit Rugby World Cup?

Tokyo, Monday

Namibia 0 New Zealand 0 at the Rugby World Cup! An improbable scoreline but one that could happen if their pool match is cancelled due to a typhoon.

The disruption caused in Tokyo in the early hours of Monday by powerful typhoon Faxai has reignited questions about contingency planning for the Rugby World Cup, which starts in just 11 days.

What happens if a game is called off? 

The regulations vary depending on whether the match affected is during the pool stages or the knock-out phase of the competition.

According to section three of World Rugby’s tournament rules for Japan 2019: “Where a pool match cannot be commenced on the day in which it is scheduled, it shall not be postponed to the following day, and shall be considered as cancelled.”

“In such situations, the result shall be declared a draw and teams will be allocated two match points each and no score registered.”

With the tournament being hailed as one of the closest ever, this could have a dramatic impact on the initial phase.

From the quarter-finals onwards, there is some wiggle room, however.

“Where a knock-out match cannot be commenced on the scheduled match day, it will be considered as postponed, and will be re-scheduled to be played within the two days following the scheduled match day, or such longer period as determined by RWCL (Rugby World Cup Ltd),” the regulations state.                   -AFP