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'If New Zealand needed four or five points against us it would not have been cancelled... it's ridiculous'
Sergio Parisse has hit out at World Rugby’s “ridiculous” decision to cancel Italy’s World Cup match against New Zealand. Super Typhoon Hagibis is due to hit Japan this weekend and World Rugby has cancelled the clash, along with England’s meeting with France.
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While improbable when facing the back-to-back world champions, a victory for Italy over New Zealand would have sent the Azzurri into the last eight.
And veteran No8 Parisse has pulled no punches in criticising tournament organisers for not relocating the fixture or altering the match day, instead simply cancelling the encounter and awarding both teams two match points.
“It is difficult to know that we won’t have the chance to play a match against one of the great teams,” said Parisse. “If New Zealand needed four or five points against us it would not have been cancelled. It is ridiculous that a decision of this nature has been made because it isn’t like the fans arrived yesterday.
“It is ridiculous that there was no plan B because it isn’t news that typhoons hit Japan. Sure everyone might think that Italy versus New Zealand being cancelled counts for nothing because we’d have lost anyway, but we deserved to be respected as a team.
(Continue reading below…)
“We had the chance to play in a big stadium, against a great team. The alternative is plan B. When you organise a World Cup you should have one in place.”
New Zealand boss Steve Hansen admitted he would have been frustrated had he been on the receiving end of the raw deal that Italy now find themselves lamenting. “If we’d had a choice, we would have rather played Friday (instead of
Saturday) but it wasn’t our choice, it was out of our control,” said Hansen.
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“We have to back World Rugby’s decision and if other teams miss out, it’s unfortunate, it’ll be disappointing. If you want to be really ruthless, then it’s all about making sure you win the games on the way through because everyone knew this could be a possibility.
We never even got to say goodbye. #RugbyWorldCup #SergioParisse #Italy #TyphoonHagibis pic.twitter.com/8zvBnJF2lW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 10, 2019
“That’s pretty hard-nosed, though, because I know if we were in their situation we’d be disappointed not to have the opportunity to get there. So yes, there’s a lot of sympathy for them. But the right decisions are being made because it’s all about safety.
“It’s always a risk at this time of year with the typhoons, but this is when we play the Rugby World Cup. If you play it earlier, you run the risk of people dying on the footy field because it’ll be 40 degrees. If you play it later, then that’s when we are finished for Christmas, so you’d have Santa Claus giving us the World Cup.”
Conor O'Shea on why Saturday's cancellation of the match versus New Zealand is a devastating blow for Italy and Sergio Parisse https://t.co/tnGBfP9Gjo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 10, 2019
New Zealand’s fallow weekend hands Hansen’s men an effective two-week build-up to the quarter-finals. If Scotland’s clash with Japan is also cancelled due to the typhoon, then New Zealand will end up facing Ireland in Tokyo on October 19.
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Captain Kieran Read said the All Blacks will happily adapt to their extended break. “We’ll be ready to go next week,” said Read. “This cancellation will have no bearing on how we turn out next week. We’re excited by it. We know what we’re doing and it’s exciting.”
– Press Association
WATCH: The moment when two of Saturday’s World Cup games were officially cancelled
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
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