We bring you the top Rugby World Cup News bites for the week of the 14th of October.
The Rugby World Cup has reached its business end and there’s a whole lot of news coming out of Japan including the make-up of the quarter-finalists, a massive blow to Ireland’s campaign and the effect of Typhoon Hagibis.
Photo Copyright Steve Haag – Hollywoodbets
Typhoon Hagibis Hampers Final Pool Games
The super-typhoon had a massive effect on the final set of pool phase games with three fixtures having to be cancelled including a pivotal fixture between England and France.
While the tournament organizers could do little about the typhoon, one is left to wonder if there could not have been better contingency plans in place. The Cricket World Cup has reserve days. Why can’t the Rugby World Cup?
Red Card to End Aki’s World Cup?
Irish centre Bundee Aki was handed a red card in his side’s final pool fixture against Samoa. While the Irish still managed to win the game comfortably, the loss of Aki – who is now facing a three-week ban, is a major blow to Joe Schmidt’s team as the burly centre is often the focal point of the Irish attack.
While Ireland may well appeal the red card, it’s unlikely that the judicial panel will give the Connacht star anything less than a three-week ban.
Quarter-Finalists Confirmed
Next weekend will see the start of the quarter-finals and there will be some cracking games on show with Australia taking on England, Wales clashing with France, South Africa taking on Japan and Ireland squaring off with New Zealand.
Canadian Squad a Class Above
With Typhoon Hagibis leaving a trail of damage and their game against Namibia called off, the Canadian squad did some volunteering work out in Kamiashi where they helped clear some of the damage caused by the category 5 typhoon.
That was truly a classy move by the Canadians and with a load of players complaining about the situation caused by the typhoon, it was great to see a team not think about themselves but rather the community that has hosted a spetacular event.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets
