Unfamiliar surroundings and the potential for extreme weather means coaches in Japan must be ready for anything
To appreciate just how different to the norm the 2019 Rugby World Cup is going to be, you only have to set foot outside. Even on a damp Monday in Tokyo, the humidity is unmissable and so is the air of novelty. Judging by the 15,000 locals who queued around the block just to watch Wales train in Kitakyushu, the next few weeks are going to challenge plenty of familiar assumptions
Drive – or rather crawl – through the busier business districts of the Japanese capital and images of the host nation’s players are plastered across the windows of 24-7 convenience stores. There is even a 40ft high action picture of the Australia fly-half Bernard Foley, not normally a household name, on a tower block overlooking one of the main intersections. The All Blacks long-serving coach Steve Hansen has traversed the rugby world multiple times but even he looks faintly taken aback by the rising tide of craziness.
Written by Robert Kitson in Tokyo
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/16/rugby-world-cup-unpredictability-japan-weather under the title “Air of unpredictability hangs over Rugby World Cup with adaptability the key | Robert Kitson”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
