OPINION: The Rugby World Cup served up a variety of fare in Japan.
Sure, there was some slop. You were always going to get humdrum games, and officials acting like self-important ninnies at these events.
Then there was the good stuff. Excellent tries and shock results on the field, excellent food and polite hosts off it.
Of course no tournament is without its share of controversies. Japan didn't disappoint on that front either. Here's an assortment of dramas that were served up over seven weeks.
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Wallabies coach Michael Cheika resigned after the loss to England in the quarterfinal.
RED HOT
Genuine drama.
1 Michael Cheika's Wallabies departed Japan before the semifinal stage, but kept the news wires buzzing in the weeks that followed.
That's not a good thing for a coach sent packing so early from a World Cup, although Cheika never seemed too fussed about blowing up if he felt the need.
Cheika kicked off early in the tournament, starting with the suspension of wing Reece Hodge when he was banned for three weeks for a high tackle in a pool match against Fiji.
His mood didn't improve, either, when midfielder Samu Kerevi was carrying the ball and got penalised for lifting his arm into the throat of first five-eighth Rhys Patchell during the crucial pool game against Wales. The Wallabies lost 29-25.
Cheika certainly had a point, although whingeing was never going to win him the PR war.
When the Wallabies lost to England in their quarterfinal, everything hit the fan; Cheika peeled back the covers on his uneasy relationship with Australian Rugby Union CEO Raelene Castle and ARU chairman Cameron Clyne.
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Scotland lost to Japan in their final pool match at the World Cup, and were soon on a plane back home.
A couple of weeks later it was revealed Cheika, who had already announced his resignation, and Castle had clashed during a visit to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo.
Later Castle wrote a letter of apology to World Rugby after the Japanese organising committee, and some high ranking officials, expressed concerns about the behaviour of some members of the Wallabies travelling crew, including Cheika.
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Referee Jaco Peyper shows a red card to France's Sebastien Vahaamahina during the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal won by Wales.
2 Typhoon Hagibis created mayhem in parts of Japan, resulting in more than 70 people losing their lives and thousands being without power or water.
Given the gravity of the issue, it seemed selfish to focus on sport. World Rugby still had a tournament to run, however, and in the interests of safety elected to cancel several of final pool games including the fixture between the All Blacks and Italy in Toyota.
It wasn't a popular call, especially among the Italians who shed tears and said such a decision wouldn't have been made if it was the All Blacks, not Italy, who needed a win to qualify for the quarterfinal.
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Wales assistant coach Rob Howley was found guilty of betting on rugby games after being sent home from the World Cup.
Scotland's crucial game against Japan in Yokohama was also in jeopardy, but eventually went ahead.
Not before Scotland threw a tantrum, however, with chief executive Mark Dodson suggesting they could sue World Rugby as well as criticising the organisation's running of the tournament.
The Scots were losers on multiple fronts. They lost to Japan, failing to qualify for the quarterfinals and later World Rugby fined the SRU about $140,000 and told them to write a meaningful apology.
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Banned Bok Aphiwe Dyantyi celebrates after scoring a try against the All Blacks last year.
3 The card saga was significant. Eight red, 28 yellow. The most in any World Cup.
In its desperation to put on a good show in Japan World Rugby decided the need to protect players' heads from high tackles, which in turn would be good PR for the sport, went up a level.
It was a great idea, in theory. Pity about the timing. The major gripe from coaches and players was they would have liked World Rugby to have released its "Decision Making Framework For High Tackles" earlier.
Giving teams four months to adjust wasn't soon enough. They were right.
As the cards kept flowing during the pool stage, defence coaches had to quickly find solutions.
Legally sacking ball runners who dropped into contact was just one of the problems. Or as Hodge discovered, finding ways to legally drop a burly wing intent on converting a defender into a road pizza was almost impossible.
Referee jaco Peyper was been caught on camera in a controversial pose after dishing a red card to the French in their 20-19 loss to Wales.
4 Wales assistant coach Rob Howley never watched a game in Japan.
He was sent home following allegations of betting before the tournament began.
The bombshell announcement was made after the organisation was contacted by one of the gambling industry's integrity teams; it was suspected Howley had breached Wales' betting regulations, so he was shipped back to the UK and replaced by former test No 10 Stephen Jones.
On December 17 Howley was suspended from rugby for 18 months, nine suspended, for breaching the sport's regulations.
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England coach Eddie Jones proved to be one of the great entertainers at the World Cup,
5 At least South Africa won the tournament.
This, despite losing wing Aphiwe Dyantyi failed a doping test. Dyantyi tested positive for anabolic steroids and metabolites in a sample taken on July 2.
Good enough to named as World Rugby's Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018, Dyantyi was expected to be named in the Springboks' squad to play in Japan even though coach Rassie Erasmus said he wasn't considered because of a hamstring injury.
Dyantyi still protests his innocence. He faces a ban for up to four years.
ON THE BOIL
Worth getting worked up about, not to the point of chewing your own neck with anger.
AP
Rassie Erasmus spent less than two years coaching the Springboks but that proved to be ample time to prepare for the World Cup.
1 Top South African referee Jaco Peyper took no further part in the tournament when he controversially joined jubilant Welsh fans for a photo after the quarterfinal win over France in Oita.
Having red carded French lock Sebastien Vahaamahina for elbowing Welsh flanker Aaron Wainwright in the jaw, Vahaamahina was later banned for six weeks, Peyper unwisely accepted an invitation from Welsh fans to pose for a photo with his elbow cocked.
When the photo was posted online, Peyper had no further need for his whistle in Japan.
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Samoa coach Steve Jackson.
2 Eddie Jones can do serious, and humorous. You also wonder at times whether the England coach is barking mad.
You don't know what's coming in a press conference until he parts his snappers. His suggestion that someone may have (or may not) have spied on England's training before the semi against the All Blacks in Yokohama created headlines around the world.
Spying, especially at a World Cup, is a big deal. A few days later Jones laughed it off, as if he had just ordered a cup of cocoa rather than accused of someone of trying to derail England's title hopes.
What he was trying to achieve remains a mystery.
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Tomas Lavanini (right) of Argentina gets set to launch a high tackle at England captain Owen Farrell. He was later shown a red card by referee Nigel Owens in the Pool C game in Tokyo.
3 Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus put French referee Jerome Garces on notice before the first pool game against the All Blacks in Yokohama, suggesting their reputation as the world's best team meant they benefited from 50-50 decisions from officials.
That didn't please All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, who rebuked Erasmus for "putting pressure on referees externally".
"It's a big game. We just need to let the ref get on with it, and prepare for it himself," Hansen said.
The All Blacks won 23-13, finished at the top of the Pool B and got crunched by England in the semifinal. The Springboks won the tournament.
MILD
Worth noting, without the red-faced outrage.
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Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
1 Samoa coach Steve Jackson had to accept some nasty medicine when Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u were banned for three weeks after being yellow carded for high tackles in their opening match against Russia.
Jackson conceded the yellow cards were fair. He wasn't convinced - not by a long shot - the independent judicial committee made the right call to rub them out for three weeks.
Jackson called for consistency. The tournament wasn't notable for it.
2 There were no complaints about Tomas Lavanini receiving a red card for his high tackle on Owen Farrell during Argentina's 39-10 loss to England in their Pool C match.
Or the four week ban, for that matter. Fair's fair.
3 No complaints, either, about the way Ireland were beaten 19-12 by Japan in their Pool A clash.
The humidity appeared to sap the energy, and eventually the self belief, from the Irish players as they stumbled around the field in Shizuoka like lost revellers at Burning Man.
Fair play to the Brave Blossoms. They set the tournament alight.
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January 02, 2020 at 11:00PM
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Rugby World Cup: The fun, madness and controversies in Japan in 2019 - Stuff.co.nz
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