TOKYO: Rugby World Cup organisers have learned from a massive typhoon that smashed into Tokyo and disrupted some teams’ arrivals, saying it highlighted their “meticulous” contingency planning for natural disaster-prone Japan. Just days before the World Cup kicks off, tournament director Alan Gilpin told AFP in an interview that last Sunday’s typhoon Faxai probably would have resulted in a game being cancelled if it had happened on a match day.
“From our perspective, one of the biggest typhoons in recent years has just come right through Tokyo and Yokohama, right into the heart of the tournament infrastructure for us and reassuringly, no problems,” said Gilpin.
The typhoon scored a direct hit on Tokyo and Chiba with record winds and rainfall, affecting transport to and from the capital’s main Narita Airport. Power has still not been restored to 90,000 households in Chiba, to the east of Tokyo. It left England marooned at the airport for five hours while Australia were forced to delay their departure for the tournament that begins on Friday. But World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said these were “minor hiccups compared to the size of the storm.” – AFP
