Recap: Japan vs Scotland LIVE I Rugby World Cup
Scotland’s World Cup fate will be decided on the pitch after their win-or-bust showdown with Japan was given the go-ahead following a stadium inspection.
Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the World Cup match between Japan versus Scotland in Yokohama. Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).
The Dark Blues feared they would be knocked out of the tournament without kicking another ball if the match was cancelled in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis.
But following a “detailed assessment” of the match venue at Yokohama’s International Stadium, the climax to Pool A with the hosts will take place as planned in front of a sell-out 70,000 crowd.
Gregor Townsend’s team need to beat the Brave Blossoms by eight clear points to secure a quarter-final showdown with New Zealand in Tokyo, next Saturday.
In a statement, the tournament organisers said: “The decision was taken following a comprehensive assessment of the venue and associated infrastructure on Sunday morning in partnership with the host city.
“World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee would like to thank everyone involved for their significant efforts to enable the match to be played as scheduled following one of largest and most powerful typhoons to hit Japan in recent years.
“Fans attending Sunday night’s match are advised to check travel operator information before departing and plan to arrive early as it may take longer than usual to enter the stadium.
“Fans should also expect a significantly reduced level of spectator service in terms of catering and merchandise sales owing to limitations on venue staff availability as a result of the typhoon.”
The decision to give the game the green light spares the tournament of a major controversy.
With World Rugby refusing to postpone the match, a cancellation would have seen it declared a draw and Scotland exit the tournament after finishing third in their group behind Ireland and the Japanese.
The Scottish Rugby Union said they would pursue legal action if the governing body did not take measures to move the game away from Hagibis’s path of destruction – a move that sparked an angry response from World Rugby as they criticised Murrayfield chief executive Mark Dodson.
Hagibis – a 1400km-wide super cyclone – was predicted to be the biggest to hit Japan for 51 years.
The latest reports say five people have been killed as a result of the storm with dozens missing after the typhoon smashed into the country’s east coast.
The Yokohama area was forecast to be among the hardest hit along the storm’s trajectory, but in the end the city escaped the worst weather and had returned to calm by around 10pm on Saturday night.
International Stadium staff have spent the morning completing safety checks to ensure the match can go ahead in front of the capacity crowd hoping to see whether it will be hosts who reach the knock-out rounds for the first time or Townsend’s team.
However, while Scotland and Japan will get to decide their fate on the pitch, Namibia and Canada’s meeting in Kamaishi was cancelled after landslides and flooding hit areas near the Recovery Memorial Stadium.
It follows World Rugby’s decision to axe Saturday’s England v France showdown and the New Zealand v Italy clash, which ended the Azzurri’s faint hopes of reaching the last eight.
A Scottish Rugby spokesperson said: “We are pleased our game against Japan is going ahead this evening.
“We would like to thank everyone involved for enabling this match to take place and look forward to playing the Brave Blossoms to conclude our Rugby World Cup Pool.
“It has obviously been an incredibly difficult night across large areas of Japan and Typhoon Hagibis certainly made its presence felt in Yokohama where the team are staying.
“We pass on our best wishes to everyone affected by the storm and our friends in Japan who continue to be great hosts.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
41 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
41 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
41 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig 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.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments