Two Games Already Blown Away By Typhoon Hagibis

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The Scots are used to a bit of rain and there is still a small chance of the game going ahead. The problem is more likely not the storm itself but the damage left behind by flooding.

Typhoon Hagibis hasn't bared it's teeth just yet ,but it is already causing chaos and sleepless nights for organizers and a certain team in a desperate situation. Today the World Cup rugby Committee announced the cancelling of two games scheduled for Saturday. The typhoon is expected to make land fall on Saturday and only one game will go ahead at the moment being Ireland vs Samoa. I do understand health and safety issues are the main concern for everyone involved and wish it hadn't come down to this.

England vs France is off and so it Italy vs New Zealand which doesn't change much with what team tops the pools. England top pool C and will play Australia and France will play Wales in the quarter finals. New Zealand finished top and it looks like if the Japanese /Scotland game is declared a draw and Ireland should win there game comfortably they will be tied on points and my understanding is Japan would go through as they beat Ireland on a head to head. If it is points difference then Ireland should squeeze home. personally it doesn't make much difference as I see both of these sides heading home after the quarter finals anyway.

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The Irish are lucky as their game looks just enough to the east to miss the main brunt. The path could change though with a day still to go and anything is still possible.

I think it is a shame that nothing could be done for Scotland if the category 5 Typhoon does land. The problem isn't just the storm itself but the damage it causes as there could be flooding and buildings need to be made safe. This is supposedly the worst storm to hit for 26 years and the weather people tend to get it more right than wrong today. heeding their advice is all they can do for now and wait and see.

I know there would be more of an effort made if it was Japan in Scotland's position as the hosts would have something lined up. Personally I don't blame them as they don't need to bend over backwards and they have a free pass to the next round. I just think something should have been arranged for this type of thing. Scotland only have themselves to blame as relying on other results and weather is not exactly controlling your own destiny.

What could happen yet is the Ireland vs Samoa game is called off on Saturday and by some luck Scotland go ahead against Japan and then the Irish get knocked out if Scotland win. Highly unlikely, but then again who would have thought that this was going to happen.

If Scotland are honest with themselves they have had a poor World Cup and don't deserve to go through on what they have done so far. Ireland are lucky to be one point ahead and could easily be in the same position as Scotland. Japan screwed things up for everyone as no one expected Ireland to lose to the Japanese.

All this said and done I expect to see Scotland play Japan on Sunday as remaining positive is the best way to look at things. The Grand Prix hasn't made any official announcements yet and expect those sometime tomorrow as the storm draws closer. Qualifying may be done in the morning depending on times.