Radio Sport Rugby Editor Nigel Yalden and NZ Herald rugby writer Liam Napier weigh in after the cancellation of Rugby World Cup games due to a typhoon warning.
Video / Mark Mitchell
COMMENT
World Rugby's rigid rules have every right to be questioned.
In the wake of two cancelled pool games and the threat of more chaos to come, Typhoon Hagibis has forced teams to adapt and adjust World Cup plans.
Is it too much to ask the governing body to dolikewise?
Sure, safety of all concerned is paramount and rules were set and agreed before the tournament, but logistical challenges seem a weak excuse for not rescheduling pool matches that will have a major influence on the knockout rounds.
Why create the provision to reschedule knockout matches, but not pool games? It's baffling.
Teams spend four years planning for this juncture, only to have their global showpiece descend into a farcical state that leaves the door wide open for grievances and claims of unjust treatment.
As it stands, World Rugby is essentially complicit in helping shape quarter-final match-ups.
What if France had upset England, who planned to rest up to eight players for that game, to top their pool? The draw for Wales and Australia, and the subsequent semifinals, could have been flipped on its head.
The fact Steve Hansen said the All Blacks were happy to play their final pool game against Italy one day early, when weather at Toyota Stadium is expected to be fine, shows they were prepared to be flexible.
Yet such an option was never tabled by tournament organisers.
However far-fetched their chance of victory, Italy were robbed of the opportunity to fight for a quarter-final berth, and the All Blacks are now forced to navigate two weeks without a game before their knockout match.
Alan Gilpin, left, tournament director for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and Japan Rugby 2019 CEO Akira Shimazu, right, attend during a press briefing. Photo / AP
Scotland clearly fear they are in the same sinking boat as Italy and have, therefore, wasted no time turning up the heat on World Rugby by issuing a statement which pointedly finished by stating: "Scottish Rugby fully expects contingency plans to be put in place to enable Scotland to contest for a place in the quarter-finals on the pitch, and will be flexible to accommodate this."
There's that word again: flexible. Or, in World Rugby's case, inflexible.
Scotland are in for a rude shock if they believe World Rugby will use a different set of rules than those applied to the cancelled New Zealand and Italy, England and France, games.
There are no guarantees the final pool match between Scotland and Japan, scheduled for Yokohama on Sunday, one day after the brunt of the typhoon is predicted to hit, will take place.
With a quarter-final on the line, and desperate emotions high, Scotland's stoush will soon turn ugly if, for whatever reason, that match is cancelled too.
What about the paying punters? World Rugby will refund tickets to cancelled games but won't fork out to cover all the travel and accommodation expenses many fans have wasted getting to Japan to follow their teams across the country to these canned matches.
Was it is really that difficult to stage the All Blacks and Italy game one day early?
Is it really that out there to stage Japan and Scotland one day later?
Why not host all cancelled games on the same day, at the same central venue?
Consider this: had the All Blacks lost their opening game against the Springboks they would now be tied on points with Italy, a scenario that would completely change the complexion of the conversation.
Imagine the outcry. New Zealanders would be calling for heads to roll.
The calendar leaves little wriggle room to play the World Cup any other time of year but World Rugby knew the risks when they agreed to host the tournament here.
Typhoon season happens every year.
Failing to allocate reserve days, or ensure contingency plans were in place to shift games, is a major oversight that could undermine and overshadow this tournament.
