Typhoon Hagibis is tipped to be the biggest Typhoon of the 2019 season and has forced the cancellation of two rugby world cup matches scheduled for Saturday. VIDEO/The Guardian Sport
World Rugby has officially announced the cancellation of the All Blacks-Italy and England-France matches at the Rugby World Cup in Japan as Typhoon Hagibis bears down on the country.
Japan's Meteorological Agency is monitoring Typhoon Hagibis, which is expected to lash southern Honshu over the weekendand could put further matches in the area in jeopardy.
There are only a handful of tests - and some first class matches - which have been cancelled or abandoned. Here's a list of them:
Ireland vs France, Paris, 2012
A France v Ireland match in 2012 was abandoned just two minutes after the scheduled kick-off time at the Stade de France - because the pitch was still frozen. Photo / Getty Images
This match was abandoned just two minutes after the scheduled kick-off time at the Stade de France - because the pitch was still frozen.
The capacity crowd of 80,000 people were told by the PA announcer that the ground was not deemed safe for playing a game of rugby.
Eventually the French captain Thierry Dusautoir took to the PA to reassure the crowd that the game had indeed been called off.
By the time the game was due to start the air temperature was -5C.
The whole thing was described by the Daily Telegraph as one of the biggest PR disasters in the Six Nations.
Ireland v Scotland and Ireland v Wales, 1972
It was the height of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland and rugby became a dangerous occupation.
Ireland had beaten France and England away and turned to their home games of Scotland and Wales.
But a series of bomb threats and death threats by the IRA ratcheted up the pressure.
The games were due to be played in the wake of the burning down of the British Embassy after Bloody Sunday.
Eventually both players and authorities decided to call off the matches.
Russia v Georgia, 2019
Perhaps unnoticed among the bigger matches of this year was the abandonment of the Russia v Georgia game in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The game was set to go ahead in August but Russian authorities decided that "demonstrations by radical persons" in protest against Russian political actionism meant the team would not travel to Georgia.
Georgian authorities said they could guarantee the safety of the team. Russia wouldn't budge.
There have also been first class matches which didn't go ahead.
Crusaders v Highlanders, 2019
Following the tragedy of the mass shootings in the mosques in Christchurch, the Crusaders and Highlanders decided to cancel the match in Dunedin.
Police had given the go-ahead for the game from a security point of view but the Crusaders organisation said that "all other issues and considerations pale in significance" after the loss of life.
But while the game was called off, it also began a debate on the name of the Crusaders - did it evoke the Christian anti-Islamic crusades?
In the end the Crusaders decided to keep the name.
