Scotland versus Japan gets go ahead

Scotland can breathe a sigh of relief as their crucial do-or-die World Cup clash against Japan will go ahead in Yokohama.

There had been concerns that the fixture would be cancelled as a result of the damage caused by the deadly Typhoon Hagibis, which has claimed a reported five lives after hitting Japan over the weekend.

Three other matches – New Zealand v Italy, England v France and Namibia v Canada – have already been cancelled because of the storm, which is believed to be the biggest Japan has seen in over 60 years.

However, following an inspection of Yokohama early on Sunday morning, tournament organisers have announced that the game will go ahead as scheduled after being satisfied that it would be safe enough to do so.

“World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee have announced that Sunday’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Pool A match between Japan and Scotland at Yokohama International Stadium (19:45 JST) will go ahead as scheduled,” a statement released by World Rugby said.

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“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.”

Members of the New Zealand, Scotland and Japan squads have taken to social media to show the havoc caused by Typhoon Hagibis. 😬⛈️ #RWC2019 https://t.co/IriL8fD83p

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 12, 2019

Enabling the match to proceed as expected means that Scotland remain in the fight for a place in the tournament’s quarter-finals.

Had the fixture been called off, the Scots would have finished in third place in Pool A, denying them a chance to push for a place in the knockout stages.

Amid prior concerns that the match would not have gone ahead, legal action had been threatened by the Scottish Rugby Union against World Rugby, but no such course of action will be needed with the match set to take place in just under nine hours’ time.

Watch – Oita at night: