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How World Cup stars reacted to the full force of Typhoon Hagibis
The full force of Typhoon Hagibis was felt hard throughout Tokyo and its surrounding areas by a number of sides competing at this Rugby World Cup, as possibly the worst typhoon in 60 years lashed Japan over the weekend.
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Two people are thought to have died, dozens have been left injured, while more than seven million people were asked to leave their homes as the storm wreaked havoc on the country’s east coast.
It has resulted in the cancellation of three games at the World Cup, with Namibia’s encounter with Canada in Kamaishi the most recent match to be called off on safety grounds.
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New Zealand’s final pool clash with Italy was another match that failed to proceed due to the weather circumstances.
All Blacks scrumhalf Brad Weber showed why the game was called off after posting a video to Twitter from his hotel which illustrated how strong the gusts were.
Typhoon winds so strong it's pushing our hotel around. Wow #hagibis pic.twitter.com/SsXQ0BmHcC
— Brad Weber (@brad_weber9) October 12, 2019
“Wow. Typhoon winds so strong it’s pushing our hotel around,” the four-test international tweeted.
Perhaps the most alarming footage came from the Scottish squad, with hooker Fraser Brown joining the likes of flyhalf Adam Hastings and fullback Blair Kinghorn in sharing videos of their team hotel creaking with the sway of the wind.
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😳😳😳 #TyphoonHagibis pic.twitter.com/HCoLr2BOnt
— fraser brown (@fraserjmbrown) October 12, 2019
As it stands, the typhoon has passed through Tokyo and moved north up Japan’s east coast, which should aide Scotland’s hopes of playing out their final pool match of the tournament against the hosts in Yokohama on Sunday.
The Scots need victory from that game to assure themselves of a place in the quarter-finals, but cancellation of the fixture would see both teams split four points, which would leave the Six Nations side six points short of a play-offs berth.
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A World Rugby spokesman said: “Our primary consideration is the safety of everyone. We will undertake detailed venue inspections as soon as practically possible with an announcement following as soon as decisions are made in the morning.
“Our message to fans continues be stay indoors today, stay safe and monitor official Rugby World Cup social and digital channels.”
A safety and pitch inspection is due to have taken place at 6am local time, with a final decision expected from World Rugby about the status of the game to be announced within the next half an hour.
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