Joburgers looked hopefully to the skies on Thursday afternoon as clouds sneaked in over the city. The first proper rains of the season had been predicted. An afternoon thunderstorm was forecast.
A dry city, still under water-use restrictions imposed a year or so ago, was desperate. People washed their cars, a modern rain dance.
David, a barman at the Pirates Sports Club, lamented that the rains were late this year. Perhaps today, he said. There was hope and need in the air.
In Tokyo, World Rugby and the World Cup organisers looked with much trepidation to a forecast of Typhoon Hagibis that would bring rain and wind of such strength and violence that it could maim and destroy parts of Japan.
They made the decision to cancel two games with the possibility of more. Reaction to the decision has been, to say the least, sharply divided, with strong criticism thrown at World Rugby for hosting the tournament in Japan during typhoon season.
They wrote a rule into the tournament handbook a few World Cups ago that ensured cancelled matches could not be played a day later. All of this week, World Rugby has been talking about contingency plans for the incoming typhoon.
In January they said they had plans in place in case of adverse weather. It appears their talk has been just that, and their only contingency plans consisted of not having any real contingency plans. Their explanation/excuse admitted they had taken a risk.
“We always knew there would be risks but it’s rare for there to be a typhoon of this size at this stage of the year. We have no regrets,” said Alan Gilpin, the tournament director. Which is pretty cold-hearted from both he and his team.
Italy have a few regrets. They had a long shot chance of making the quarterfinals if they had somehow managed to beat New Zealand in Toyota on Sunday.
Italy’s captain Sergio Parisse echoed popular sentiment when he said on Thursday: “If New Zealand needed four or five points against us it would not have been cancelled. It is ridiculous that there was no Plan B, because it isn’t news that typhoons hit Japan. The alternative is Plan B. When you organise a World Cup you should have one in place.”
England’s Eddie Jones joked that his team would have an extra day off after this team’s final pool match against France was called off. He said the typhoon gods may have been smiling on England — a selfish and short-sighted view.
Scotland are fuming that their Sunday night game against Japan, which will decide who would go through to the quarterfinals, may be called off. Scotland have offered to play behind closed doors in another stadium in another time zone. Anything.
World Rugby have buried their heads in their tournament rule book and read out “no contingency” with the same conviction Donald Trump says “no collusion”. It’s hard not to wonder if they would prefer Japan to go through to the quarterfinals to keep crowds flocking to watch their Brave Blossoms.
Journalists have weighed in. Robert Kitson, rugby writer for The Guardian, wrote on Thursday: “ ... this is a World Cup and every self-respecting organising committee is supposed to have a range of contingency plans. In this instance, they seem to have consisted largely of crossed fingers.”
Stuart Barnes, the former England flyhalf turned TV commentator, vented in The Times of London, writing that World Rugby is at fault: “What else could World Rugby have done? It is a question being repeatedly asked. I am afraid the brutal answer is not to award the tournament to Japan in the first place.
“World Rugby has shown a reckless disregard for the reality of the times in which we live. Any sensible plan has to account for worst-case scenarios.”
When New Zealand was awarded the right to host the 2011 World Cup, Japanese rugby officials, who had bid against NZ, criticised the then International Rugby Board for only looking after the “interests of bigger unions”.
The IRB’s reply? “New Zealand can guarantee packed stadiums and that can’t be guaranteed in Japan.”
They got that wrong, too. World Rugby have taken the decision to cancel games for safety, which is right and good. But they are fudging, ducking and diving over solutions.
If Scotland do not play Japan on Sunday night, this tournament will be remembered as much for World Rugby hosting a World Cup in typhoon season with crossed fingers.
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