Green light for epic clash

Namibia and Canada will find themselves in a storm of their own in Sunday's final Pool B match at the Japan Rugby World Cup.Both countries will be desperately searching for a win, with Namibia having never won at the global spectacle.It was announced yesterday that the match will go ahead despite the threat of Super Typhoon Hagibis.According to a World Rugby statement every effort is being made to ensure Sunday's matches will be played as scheduled and a thorough assessment of venues will again take place after the typhoon has passed, before a final decision is made on Sunday morning.This was decided after detailed information was released from the tournament's independent weather experts who predicted Hagibis to be the biggest typhoon of the 2019 season.“It will most likely also cause considerable disruption in the Tokyo, Yokohama and city of Toyota areas throughout Saturday, including a likely public transport shutdown or disruption.“As a result, World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee have taken the difficult, but right decision to cancel matches in the affected areas on safety grounds. The impacted teams England and France and New Zealand and Italy have been informed and are understanding,” the statement said.The decision to cancel matches has not been taken lightly and was made in the best interests of the public, teams, tournament personnel and volunteer safety, based on expert advice and detailed weather information. “While we have extensively explored all options, public and team safety was our utmost priority, as well as ensuring a consistent, fair and equitable outcome for all teams. All fans with tickets for a cancelled match will receive a full refund for the face-value of their match tickets.”World Rugby chief operating officer and tournament director Alan Gilpin also said that this is a complex and dynamic situation, which they have been monitoring extremely closely with the assistance of our weather information experts. “While making every possible effort to put in place a contingency plan that would enable all of Saturday's matches to be played, it would be grossly irresponsible to leave teams, fans, volunteers and other tournament personnel exposed during what is predicted to be a severe typhoon.“As a result, we have taken the decision to cancel some matches in order to ensure the safety of all involved. It is the right thing to do, and comes with the support of all stakeholders, including the teams.“We fully appreciate that England, France, New Zealand and Italy fans will be disappointed, but we trust they will appreciate that their safety must come first. They will be entitled to a full refund on their match tickets,” Gilpin said.He advised fans to heed all official advice, stay indoors throughout tomorrow and not attempt to travel on the day.The Pool D match between Australia and Georgia will be played as scheduled today.Tomorrow the Pool A match between Ireland and Samoa will also go ahead as scheduled. Then on Sunday, Namibia and Canada will then clash. RecordNamibia were beaten 47-22 by Italy in their first match, 57-3 by South Africa in their second and lost 71-9 in their third clash against the All Blacks.Canada on the other hand haven't also won a match during the 2019 World Cup, as they were defeated 48-7 by Italy, 63-0 by New Zealand and 66-7 by South Africa, and must now find the energy for one last challenge against the Namibians, who are eyeing their first World Cup win ever. For regular updates on the Japan Rugby World Cup please log onto http://rwc.my.naThe Namibian team is as follows: Andre Rademeyer, Torsten George van Jaarsveld, Johannes Coetzee, Johan Retief, Tjiuee Uanivi, Prince Gaoseb, Wian Conradie, Janco Venter, Eugene Jantjies, Cliven Loubser, JC Greyling, Darryl de la Harpe, Johan Deysel (captain), Leslie Klim and Johan Tromp.Reserves: Louis van der Westhuizen, AJ de Klerk, Desiderius Sethie, Max Katjijeko, Rohan Kitshoff, Damian Stevens, Helarius Axasman Kisting and Chad Plato.LIMBA MUPETAMI

Green light for epic clash

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-08-20

Please login to leave a comment

Green light for epic clash

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-08-20

Please login to leave a comment

Login