The Wallabies have had a false-start to their World Cup campaign after the squad’s fight to Japan on Sunday was cancelled due to Typhoon Faxai.
After beating Samoa on Saturday night, the Australian players and staff were due to depart from Sydney for Tokyo, before heading to Odawara for a week’s camp.
The Wallabies play their first World Cup match against Fiji on September 21 in Sapporo.
Typhoon #Faxai will sweep through Tokyo and southeastern Honshu late Sunday into early Monday (Japan time) with destructive winds and heavy rain. Latest details: https://t.co/lRNysIqCef pic.twitter.com/v7gKQiseDk
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) September 7, 2019
But the imminent arrival of Typhoon Faxai, which the Japanese Metereological Society said would dump up to 300 millimetres of rain in 24 hours and carry "historic" winds of up to 216 kilometres per hour, has delayed those plans.
The Wallabies are now due to fly out on Monday, which team officials said was not a huge disruption given players had been given the day offf in any case.
But weather services in Japan reportedly indicated there could be more cancellations on Monday, which could force the Wallabies to delay their departure again and potentially even re-visit their training plans.
Typhoon #Faxai headed for a landfall in Japan soon. JMA forecast takes the center more or less near Tokyo. Exact track will determine impacts. JMA forecasts: https://t.co/gB2XsjgIyg pic.twitter.com/GPvVAf4Drm
— Alex Lamers (@AlexJLamers) September 8, 2019
It is likely a number of teams involved in the Rugby World Cup will be affected by the typhoon due to a large number of cancelled inbound flights, and cancelled trains.
Competing nations have already begun to arrive and most will be in Japan by the end of the week.
With the Rugby World Cup due to held during Japan's typhoon season, organisers have been crossing their fingers and hoping for minimal impact from the powerful storms.
The destructive storms could potentially play a role in the tournament, with finals set to be re-scheduled if they're unable to be played - but not pool games.
In the event of a washed-out pool game, the game will reportedly be declared a draw - which could throw the expected outcomes of the pool stages into disarray.
