'You can plan for it' - World Cup organisers ready for disaster in Japan

Rugby World Cup organisers are concentrating their efforts on contingency planning given their host country Japan's vulnerability when it comes to natural disasters.

Japan is vulnerable to extreme weather in September, when the tournament will be taking place, tournament director Alan Gilpin said in an interview with AFP.

In September last year a pair of typhoons hit the country, knocking out Osaka Airport and forcing public transport to be cancelled in Tokyo.

An earthquake also hit up north, claiming dozens of lives.

“A lot of what we will do in the coming six months is contingency planning,” Gilpin told AFP.

“It would appear that it’s that first period of the tournament — when it is still typhoon season — that we’re likely to have some issues.

“That is the busiest part of the tournament so we’ve got to be ready.”

Exactly one year after typhoon Trami hit Japan, five key matches will be played, with Australia set to meet Wales in Tokyo and hosts Japan up against the rising Ireland.

Gilpin said it was still possible to make plans for the unpredictable and potentially dangerous weather.

“Our view is that you can plan for it," he said.

“You’ve just got to make sure you’ve worked through all those different permutations,” he said.

Knockout matches can be postponed, but pool matches may be officially declared a draw if elements intervene, despite the standing of the respective competing countries.

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