Ireland will travel to Japan tomorrow despite Typhoon Faxai causing havoc for the country over the past number of days.
The team, which will include winger Keith
Earls, who had a knee injury cleared yesterday, had been expected to alter their
travel plans due to the weather conditions but that does not appear to be the
case.
The typhoon has already taken the lives of
three people in recent days.
Chiba, an area that has seen mass landfall
since the typhoon began, is the destination for Ireland’s opening World Cup
game against Scotland next Saturday.
The IRFU have confirmed that they will stay
in contact with World Rugby and monitor the conditions over the next 24 hours
in the case that they should have to shift their schedule.
Other countries have already been affected by
Typhoon Faxai, such as England, who set off yesterday and had a torrid time
getting to their final destination.
Having had their flight delayed, they then
took the 11-hour journey to Tokyo airport, before waiting almost six-hours for
a bus to pick them up and bring them to their hotel due to traffic congestion
caused by the storm.
Australia have also had to change their
plans due to the weather and have had to reschedule their flights.
Irish head coach Joe Schmidt will be keen
to get his squad over to Japan and settle in as they prepare for the tournament
where they will be hoping to make a serious impression following back-to-back
wins over current Six Nations Grand Slam champions Wales.
