World Rugby is monitoring a typhoon that could hit Japan on Saturday and stop Ireland’s Rugby World Cup campaign in its tracks.

Typhoon Hagibis has formed in the Western Pacific Ocean off the south coast of Japan, with forecasts suggesting it could hit the island of Kyushu this weekend.

Ireland face Samoa in the Kyushu city of Fukuoka on Saturday, where Joe Schmidt’s men need a bonus-point victory to seal a place in the quarter-finals.

Any games cancelled at the World Cup due to weather problems are registered as scoreless draws.

That scenario would allow Scotland the chance to leapfrog Ireland into second place, should Gregor Townsend’s men see off both Russia on Wednesday and hosts Japan on Sunday.

Previous predictions of typhoons hitting Japan and disrupting the tournament have so far proved wide of the mark.

Typhoon Mitag had threatened France’s clash with the USA in Fukuoka last week, but the match was completed without issue.

World Rugby is monitoring the situation and will issue further updates as the situation develops.

“We are currently monitoring the development of a typhoon off the south coast of Japan in partnership with our weather information experts,” said a World Rugby spokesman.

“It is still too early to determine what, if any, impact there will be on match or training activities.”