Two changes for Manu's final clash as Typhoon threatens to wreck final Cup round

By James Robertson • 10 October 2019, 7:41PM

Two changes have been to the Many Samoa starting lineup for the team's final World Cup clash against world number 2 team and Pool A favourites Ireland. Logovii Mulipola had been name at loosehead prop to replace Jordan Lay, who will take his brother James' place on the bench

Teofilo Paulo ha also been named at lock, while Piula Fa’asalele has been relegated to the bench meaning Senio Toleafoa misses out on the final game entirely.

But extreme weather threatens to overshadow the final round and possibly lead to the game's cancellation. Based on the latest detailed

"Information from the tournament’s independent weather experts, [sugggests Typhoon] Hagibis is predicted to be the biggest typhoon of the 2019 season and is highly likely to cause considerable disruption in the Tokyo, Yokohama and City of Toyota areas throughout Saturday," World Rugby said in a statement.

Two weekend games have already been forced to cancel: England vs. France and the All Black vs. Italy.

Cancelled games are treated the same as scoreless draws under World Cup rules, which gives teams two points each.

Retaining the status quo on the points table with points shared around would see Japan top Pool A, meaning a quarterfinal against the Springboks, while Ireland would finish second and play the All Blacks.

But Scotland retain an outside chance of leapfrogging Ireland to take second place in Pool A if their game against Japan goes ahead but Ireland loses to Samoa or has its game cancelled. But if that match against Japan is cancelled Scotland would be eliminated if Ireland beats Samoa.

Tournament organisers said they would wait until Sunday morning to decide if the Scots’ final match against Japan would go ahead. The team's coach has been lobbying for the game to be relocated further inland at Kobe.

The Manu Samoa team to play Ireland at Level-5 Stadium, Fukuoka on Saturday 12 October at 7.45pm Japan Time and 12.45am Sunday morning local time includes the following.