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Tokyo - The France-USA Rugby World Cup match will go ahead as planned on Wednesday, organisers have said, after previously warning that an incoming typhoon could cause the game to be rescheduled.
Typhoon Mitag is bearing down on southwestern Japan, leading organisers to advise the two teams that the game could be moved from the planned venue in Fukuoka, on the northern tip of Kyushu island.
However, World Rugby said in a statement on Monday that the typhoon was now "lessening in strength, tracking further westward away from Japan's coastline and therefore will not impact the match".
"In line with robust tournament contingency plans, had the match not been able to be played at Fukuoka, an alternative venue would have been used," the statement added.
Organisers vowed to continue monitoring the typhoon, which is forecast to clip Taiwan and China before moving over the Korean Peninsula and then hitting Japan around October 4 as a much weaker system.
Extreme weather has already caused minor disruption at the World Cup when Typhoon Faxai barrelled into Japan less than two weeks before the start, affecting the travel plans of England and Australia.
Another typhoon, Tapah, clipped the western portion of the country on the opening weekend of the tournament, forcing organisers to close down two fanzones as a precaution.
Organisers have put in place "meticulous" contingency plans for the tournament in Japan, which is hit by around 20 typhoons per year and is one of the world's most seismically active countries.
If extreme weather or another reason were to force the abandoning of a pool match, it would count as a 0-0 draw, which could have a potentially huge impact on an extremely tight tournament.
Teams:
France
15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Alivereti Raka, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles (captain), 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Arthur Iturria, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Emerick Setiano, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Cyril Baille
Substitutes: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Maxime Medard
USA
15 Mike Teo, 14 Blaine Scully (captain), 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Bryce Campbell, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufetee, 1 Eric Fry
Substitutes: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ben Pinkelman, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Will Magie, 23 Thretton Palamo
