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New Zealand’s 17 match Rugby World Cup-winning streak has been halted by the most unlikely of opponents.
At 12:00 JST on Thursday, a decision was made by the RWC Organising Committee acting on the imperative advice of the Japan Meteorological Agency to cancel the All Blacks' final Pool game against Italy at the City of Toyota Stadium.
The two bodies are considering fan safety as paramount in their decision to cancel this fixture along with England vs France set to take place at Yokohama Stadium on the same day.
In accordance with the tournament rules, the match is to be recorded as a 0-0 draw with both sides claiming 2 points each.
New Zealand now finish Pool B ahead of 2nd placed South Africa on 16 points. Italy are sure to feel hard done by, as a shock victory against the All Blacks would have seen them finish 2nd behind South Africa, who would have stayed at the top.
Typhoon Hagibis has also caused significant disruption in the RWC record book. With Saturday’s match listed as a draw, New Zealand’s 17 game winning streak has technically come to an end.
The All Blacks have won every RWC match they have played since September 2011. Their run of 17 victories now comes to an end with the last one recorded against Namibia last Sunday.
This is the longest-running winning streak ever recorded at the Rugby World Cup. The next best was Australia who maintained a winning run of 12 games from 1999 to 2003.
For New Zealand, their winning streak spanned across 3 RWC tournaments. Of course, they have lifted the trophy twice during this period and may go on to clinch it for a third running here.
The team with the longest winning streak running currently is Japan, who are on 5 as it stands. The Cherry Blossoms are scheduled to play Scotland on Sunday in a match that may also be cancelled due to the oncoming tropical storm.
Should this happen, then Japan and Ireland would progress from Pool A and Scotland would be eliminated. A further announcement is set to be made on Sunday morning local time.
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