Scottish Rugby Union CEO Mark Dodson says it will go against the sporting integrity of the World Cup if organisers decide to cancel the Pool A game between Scotland and Japan.
A furious row between SRU and World Cup has erupted after it came to light that the all-important Pool A clash between the hosts and Scotland on Sunday could potentially be called off if typhoon Hagibis makes landfall in Yokohama.
It the match is cancelled, Scotland are likely to miss out on a spot in the quarter-finals, with Japan and Ireland set to advance. If Hagibis does hit Yokohama, the SRU wants to move the game back by 24 hours from its current time of 7.45pm on Sunday to Monday at the same time and the organisation has already indicated that its planning to take legal action against World Rugby if their wish is not adhered to.
In addition to that statement, Dodson on Friday called a media briefing, where he slammed World Rugby and the Rugby World Cup organising committee and questioned the integrity of the sport’s showpiece event.
‘My view is that we’re not going to let Scotland be the collateral damage for a decision that was taken in haste,’ Dodson vowed.
‘For world rugby to just simply state that the game has to be cancelled goes against the whole sporting integrity of the tournament. We have been preparing for this tournament now for four years,’ lamented Dodson.
‘World Rugby seem to be determined to stick to its plan that the match is either played on Sunday or indeed it is cancelled, and to have it cancelled and have our ability to progress from this group put at peril, we believe is absolutely unacceptable.’
Despite Scotland’s pleas, it was already decided before the start of the tournament that pool games affected by inclement whether will be called off and declared at scoreless draws. That is the reason why the contest between England and France and the match between Italy and New Zealand were cancelled, despite Italy – like Scotland – also having a mathematical chance of progress had the game been rescheduled.
WATCH: ‘Moving matches wouldn’t be feasible’
Photo: Paul Devlin/SNS
