The Scotland Rugby Union has been reported to a disputes committee for comments about their World Cup match against Japan.
If Sunday’s match, which Japan won 28-21 to progress to the quarter-finals, was cancelled due to the impact of typhoon Hagibis, Scotland would have been eliminated. SRU chief executive Mark Dodson threatened World Rugby with legal action to force the game to be postponed.
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Dodson added that World Rugby would have treated the tournament’s defending champions New Zealand differently, comments which could lead to a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.
‘Under our tournament rules, we’re very careful that people behave appropriately and as a result of that we’ve referred to independent disputes committee the behaviour and comments of the Scottish Rugby Union,’ tournament director Alan Gilpin said.
Gilpin hailed the tournament organisers and local committee for being able to stage the match following one of the strongest typhoons to hit Japan in decades.
‘Putting any match on is an incredibly complex task on that scale but to do so in those circumstances is remarkable,’ he added. ‘We know they are remarkable, which is why we had a high degree of optimism that we could get this done.
‘There were people in the venue working in different roles and volunteers whose homes had been destroyed that day. Their desire to get the game on and resilience is to be absolutely applauded.’
Photo: Scottish Rugby CEO Mark Dodson/Paul Devlin/SNS
