Ireland could face elimination due to Typhoon Hagibis this Saturday when they are supposed to face Samoa in their final Pool A match at the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
In what seems a crazy turn of events, Ireland, the team that were expected to cruise through the group stages could potentially have their destiny taken out of their own hands.
The typhoon, which has formed in the Western Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan, is expected to hit the island of Kyushu this weekend, the destination where Ireland play their game.
Hopefully the weather will play no part in any event and Irish assistant coach Andy Farrell has already down-played ideas of the game being cancelled, stating World Rugby have already been in contact with regards the clash.
“The boys haven’t even spoken about it – we just go from day to day, get on with our preparations. World Rugby has been in touch with us and they are as keen as we are to get this game played. I believe there’s a contingency plan in place. We just get on with our day job and best prepare every single day and we’ll see what comes with that. The weather forecast changes all the time anyway. So we won’t probably know until 48 hours out from the game,” he said.
However, if it were to hit the typhoon could have serious consequences on the pool and who progresses.
At this moment in time Japan sit top of Pool A on 14 points, Ireland are second on 11 and Scotland are third on five, with a game in hand on the two leading nations.
Scotland are expected to take home a bonus-point victory against Russia on Wednesday which would leave them on 10 points heading into the final weekend of pool fixtures.
Although Farrell has suggested that the game could be moved or that it may be rescheduled, there is a risk of it not going ahead at all. If the game is cancelled then it is automatically registered as a scoreless draw.
The same applies if the game is called off during the first half of the match, either way those scenarios would leave both teams receiving two points. That would put Ireland on 13 points and within reach of Scotland, who would only have the pressure of beating Japan to reach the last eight, with Ireland being relegated to third in the standings.
That is the worst case imaginable for Irish fans.
On another note if the game takes place, but is called off at some stage of the second-half, than whatever the score is at that time will be used as the result of the match, which could be beneficial to either side depending on how the game plans out.
Any form of cancelation before the second-half of the game being played, and if Scotland secure a bonus-point win over Russia, then the Scots would simply have to beat the hosts to go second in the group on Sunday, and if they claimed a bonus-point victory they could even end the pool stage as the winners of the group.
The rugby community will be hoping that the game will just go ahead and that the rugby itself will decide who makes it and who doesn’t.
However, this is not the first game to be threatened by bad weather, with last week’s fixture between France and the US being under threat of by typhoon Mitag.
Scotland will be licking their lips at the prospect of having everything in their control, but for Ireland deserve a chance to make it three wins from four games on Saturday. We will have to wait and see what happens in a situation that could cause chaos in Japan.
