Exactly 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 a second missile test fired over the 2019 host country in the past week. Rugby, meanwhile, has its own worrisome long-term problems to fret about. Those South Africans still shaking their heads at last Saturday’s 57-0 thrashing by the All Blacks are not alone: the scoreline sent a shiver down every traditional rugby spine, from Bloemfontein to Buenos Aires. The Springboks were supposed to be improving, the men in black still rebuilding. What if this yawning gap widens further between now and 2019? Only the most sand‑obsessed ostrich could ignore the possible ramifications.
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