Disappointing.

World Rugby have hit back at Scotland after they appeared to threaten legal action should the governing body cancel their crucial Rugby  World Cup pool clash with Japan on Sunday.

If the game does not go ahead, Scotland will be automatically knocked out of the World Cup without a fighting chance against hosts Japan.

But despite Scotland stating they will “refuse to accept” the game being cancelled – World Rugby have made it clear if the game is unable to go ahead on Sunday it will be cancelled and not postponed until a later date.

They also stated that they were disappointed with Scotland’s comments at a time when they are doing everything in their power to make sure the game does indeed end up going ahead.

“It is disappointing that the Scottish rugby union should make such comments at a time when we are doing everything we can to enable all Sunday’s matches to take place as scheduled, and when there is a real and significant threat to public safety owing to what is predicted to be one of the largest and most destructive typhoons to hit Japan since 1958.

“Along with the 19 other teams, the Scottish rugby union signed the Rugby World Cup 2019 terms of participation which clearly state in section 5.3:

“Where a pool match cannot be commenced on the day in which it is scheduled, it shall not be postponed to the following day, and shall be considered as cancelled in such situations, the result shall be declared a draw and teams will be allocated two match points and no score registered.”

“Add outlined during Thursday’s media conference in Tokyo, the core principle that could enable us to explore a departure from the terms of participation, is a fair and consistent application of the rescheduling for all teams in a safe environment for teams, fans and essential match services. The sheer predicted scale and impact of the typhoon and the complexity of team movement for eight matches meant that and an even-handed application was just not possible without putting safety at risk. Therefore, it was the fair and correct decision for all teams to maintain the position outlined in the terms of participation.

“It would be inappropriate to make further comment at a time when we are fully focused on the safety of everyone and this weekend’s matches.”