Tokyo (AFP)
The Rugby World Cup organizers issued a weather advisory on Monday as a strong typhoon approaches the southwestern coast of Japan, threatening two matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
"We are following typhoon Hagibis, which is currently developing off Japan's southwestern coast," the World Cup organizers said in a statement, "The latest modeling by our experts and the Japan Meteorological Agency indicates that the typhoon is the northwesterly direction and could bring heavy gusts of wind and heavy rain in southern Japan on October 12 and 13 ".
Two meetings, Ireland - Samoa, Saturday 12th in Fukuoka, and Wales - Uruguay, Sunday 13th in Kumamoto, are scheduled in southern Japan on the dates indicated by the organizers.
The impact of typhoons on the course of the competition is a matter of concern for World Rugby. Less than two weeks before the start of the World Cup, Typhoon Faxai struck Tokyo and the neighboring Chiba Prefecture, killing several people and causing major air disturbances in Narita, one of Tokyo's two major airports. .
On September 21, World Rugby issued a weather alert for typhoon Tapah, which was finally downgraded to a tropical storm.
Eight days later, teams from France and the United States were warned of a risk of cancellation of their meeting, which finally took place without problem on October 2 in Fukuoka.
When the notice was lifted, the organizers said that "if the match could not be played in Fukuoka, another stadium would have been used".
In case of no solution and if a match of the first phase can not take place, the International Federation has provided that each team is awarded two points (draw 0-0).
© 2019 AFP