Empty stadiums, threats to the 15-a-side game and the decline of the Springboks and Wallabies means that the possibility of only two teams being genuinely in contention come Japan 2019 is very realExactly two years from Wednesday, the Rugby World Cup will kick off in Japan, and World Rugby is starting to twitch, judging by its public warnings to local organisers about the sluggish pace of preparations. Get your pagoda in order now has been the theme before this week’s two-years-to-go extravaganza at Shibuya 19 in central Tokyo.Normally this would be a high-profile story but, right now, there seem to be more serious concerns, not least that Japan is at the heart of global geopolitical tension with North Korea given...
After the draw in Kyoto there are tantalising opportunities available to Scotland, Ireland and Wales if they get to Japan in good shape come late 2019There are two years and four months still to go until Japan’s 2019 Rugby World Cup kicks off but at least one leading nation is already doomed to catch the bullet train to premature oblivion. While some tough early pool games can occasionally prove to be helpful in the later stages, England will be fooling no one if they insist a grouping with France and Argentina is exactly what they always wanted.Bill Beaumont, the former England captain who pulled his own country’s name out of the pot, can expect precious few congratulatory messages from home. England...
Warren Gatland and the rest of the rugby union world will be in Kyoto on Wednesday when the groupings are determined for the 2019 tournamentEven Phileas Fogg would have struggled had he been involved in modern-day rugby union. One day Warren Gatland is in London talking up the Lions, the next he is en route to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. Next week he has to be back in Wales, the week after it is Ireland followed by a long wintry trek around New Zealand. If it is Wednesday, it must be Kyoto, in theory at least.There will be precious little relaxation at 39,000 feet either, if the pool draw takes on a deathly complexion once more....
As Irish fans have amply demonstrated there is a deep well of passion for rugby in the country which the sport’s premier tournament would do well to tap intoImagine, for a moment, it is 2023. People have had enough of politics and onrushing global warming and need something more fun to talk about than imminent Armageddon, assuming it has not already happened. What better than a Rugby World Cup, still relatively pure of heart compared with the football version held in Qatar the previous year? If ever there was a moment to showcase the sport as a force for good, this is it.Where, then, should this feelgood event ideally be held? Where will it not simply generate a few quid...