England's World Cup challenge is in danger of being blown off course by a super typhoon and injury to star player Billy Vunipola, writes Alex Spink in Tokyo.
But Red Rose bosses were playing down both today as they prepared for Saturday’s pool decider against France.
Vunipola was pictured wearing a protective boot hours before England denied that he needed one.
“At this stage all 31 players are available,” said attack coach Scott Wisemantel, before admitting Vunipola had indeed been in a boot.
“We are being overly cautious. If there is any risk that Billy is not going to be 100 per cent we will rest him.”
There might not be a decision to make if Super Typhoon Hagibis hits Tokyo this weekend.
In a significant change from Monday's forecast, when the storm was expected to make landfall in Japan's far southwest, the Japan Meteorological Agency is now projecting Hagibis to clip the southeast, near Tokyo and Yokohama.
They currently class Hagibis as "violent", with gusts as strong as 165 miles per hour. If the game is postponed it will not be replayed but marked down as a 0-0 draw - meaning England would progress as Pool C champions.
A statement from tournament chiefs did nothing to ease concern, saying: “The latest modelling by our weather information experts indicates that it is now tracking north and east and will bring strong winds and heavy rain to Tokyo and surrounding areas on 12 October.
“We will continue to closely monitor this developing situation in partnership with our weather information experts, local authorities, transport providers and the teams,
“Public and team safety is our number one priority. While we have robust contingency plans in place for pool matches, such plans, if required, will only be actioned if the safety of teams, fans, and workforce can be guaranteed.”
Wisemantel said: “We have no control over the weather and we have to prepare for the game and see how it goes,
“Regarding the permutation around the game and shared points we are just concentrating on playing to win.
"One thing I have learnt in Japan is that they prepare for the worst and then usually it doesn’t eventuate.”
