Published 18:14 IST, October 10th 2019
Rugby World Cup matches get cancelled as Hagibis approaches Japan
The upcoming world cup match between Britain and France won't be played at Yokohama Stadium, Japan, on October 12 as super typhoon Hagibis approaches Japan
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The upcoming match between Britain and France will not be played in Yokohama Stadium on October 12, after the World Rugby and competition coordinators took the crucial decision of canceling the World cup game due to the threat that Typhoon Hagibis posed to Japan at large. Typhoon Hagibis has been considered to have similar properties as that of a category 5 hurricane with wind speeds measuring up to 305 kilometers per hour.
World cup chaos due to Typhoon Hagibis
Scotland's competition, in the interim, is still clouded with uncertainty, with a choice on their last and definitive pool match against Japan to be postponed until October 13, as Japan prepares itself to tackle one of the deadliest typhoons in decades.
While talking to a media outlet, Alan Gilpin, tournament head, gave an update on Italy's match with New Zealand and stated that the concerned match had been called off due weather conditions not favorable with respect to human beings.
The canceled match robbed Italy of the chance to stay in the tournament. Technically, they were still in the competition but it was highly an unlikely situation wherein they would have beat New Zealand to stay in contention for the trophy.
The matches that have been dropped will be considered a draw with a 0-0 scoreline and the teams will be awarded 2 points each. New Zealand is perched at the top of the points table in front of South Africa, while both England and France have qualified for the quarter-finals with a game in hand.
Britain has secured the top spot in their respective group and is probably going to face Australia in a quarterfinal encounter with France set to play against the team of Wales, notwithstanding any significant upset in their respective group games.
Alan said that the sole reason behind canceling the respective matches was because the safety of the teams competing, supporters coming in from different parts of the world was his and the organisers' main priority.
In relation to this, Gilpin stated that the credibility to organise the event had not been whitewashed and further added that the decisions with respect to the Typhoon were deemed to be very risky and that is why the matches were canceled. He also said that all the ticket holders for the canceled matches will get a full refund.
"Tropical depressions"
A Typhoon is typically a tropical cyclone that originates in the Northwestern part of the Pacific Basin. Cyclones in Japan are initially termed as tropical depressions and are given the title of a typhoon or a super typhoon if they cross the wind speed of 190 Kmh.
17:39 IST, October 10th 2019