Canada's Rugby World Cup team helps Japan recover from Typhoon Hagibis

by Craig Takeuchi on October 15th, 2019 at 3:00 PM

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After one of the most powerful typhoons to hit Japan brought record-breaking rains and windstorms, a team of Canadian athletes redirected their musclepower toward helping out with recovery efforts.

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in Japan on October 12, and left devastation in its wake.

On October 13, Rugby Canada announced that the match between Canada and Namibia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup was cancelled in Kamaishi, Japan, due to an evacuation order in the area.

Landslides and flooding had occurred near the stadium, Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium where the match was slated to take place. The city of Kamaishi had previously sustained major damage from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Over 70 people have been reported to have died from the typhoon and thousands were left without power or water.

It was the first time the Rugby World Cup has been held in Asia.

Although the Canadian team, which included players from B.C., lost all of its games and was scheduled to fly back to Vancouver, they won praise and gratitude from locals and international media for assisting with clean-up after the disaster, including helping to remove mud and debris.