A truck turned over by high winds lies on a highway in Tomisato on September 9, 2019. - A powerful typhoon with potentially record winds and rain battered the Tokyo region on September 9, sparking evacuation warnings to tens of thousands, widespread blackouts and transport disruption. (Photo by STR / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by STR has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Tomisato] instead of [Narita]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.
Rugby World Cup organisers warned Monday that a powerful typhoon forming to the south of Japan could bring fierce winds and torrential rain over the last weekend of the pool stages.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) is tracking Typhoon Hagibis, expected to develop into the highest level of “violent”, which is due to start hitting the southern island of Kyushu around October 12.
“We have not issued any warning yet as it is still far from the Japanese archipelago. But it could be the strongest to hit Japan this year,” a JMA official told AFP.
There are two World Cup fixtures on the island at that time — a potentially critical Pool A Ireland-Samoa clash in Fukuoka on October 12 and Wales-Uruguay in Pool D in Kumamoto on October 13.
The latest information from the Rugby World Cup weather advisors is that “the typhoon is tracking in a north-westerly direction and could bring high winds and heavy rain to southern Japan on October 12 and 13”, organisers said in a statement.
They said it was “too early” to assess the exact trajectory of the storm and whether it would impact the game, but stressed they had a “robust contingency programme” in place if the games were affected.
Games can be moved to a different venue if it looks like a typhoon will prevent them from being played.
However, if a match during the pool phase has to be cancelled, it counts as a 0-0 draw.
This could prove costly to Ireland, who are in a fierce three-way battle with Japan and Scotland for a quarter-final place and would be expected to beat Samoa with relative ease.
Wales will qualify for the last eight if they beat Fiji on Wednesday but a draw against Uruguay could jeopardise their ability to top their pool.
For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.