The Rugby World Cup descended into farce on Wednesday with England and France left in the dark over if or where their match this weekend will be played and if there will be any fans allowed to watch it.

World Rugby have called an emergency press conference at midday on Thursday [4am BST] regarding the impending arrival of Super Typhoon Hagibis, which threatens to bring 160mph winds and heavy rain to Japan across the weekend.

But the world governing body have refused to confirm what the plan is this weekend, and neither England nor France have been told despite some suggestions that the game will be played in the southern city of Oita 600 miles away on Kyushu where Hagibis is not expected to hit.

It is said that the match could also be played behind closed doors, leaving up to 70,000 fans expecting to watch the encounter at the International Stadium Yokohama furious at being locked out of the game.

However, sources have indicated that a decision on the location of 'Le Crunch', should it be played, is yet to be decided, and broadcasters have been advised that the options are now limited to the game being played in Yokohama only, or being cancelled altogether given the logistical difficulties in moving it to a new location at such short notice.

Rugby World Cup team of round three Show all 16 1 /16 Rugby World Cup team of round three Rugby World Cup team of round three Team of round three From Scotland's demolition of Samoa to France's narrow escape against Tonga, who makes the team of round three? AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 1. James Slipper (Australia) Ninety-three Tests had come and gone for the Wallabies loosehead, but it was 94th-time lucky for the Queensland-born prop as he finally scored his first international try in Australia’s 45-10 victory over Uruguay. Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 2. Mbongeni Mbonambi (South Africa) Mbonambi was excellent at the lineout, finding his jumper on every occasion, but it was his work around the pitch that really stood out in the win over Italy as he bagged himself a try in the process. PA Rugby World Cup team of round three 3. Angus Ta’avao (New Zealand) The rookie All Blacks prop was thrust into the contest against Namibia early when his team were struggling to break down the African side following Nepo Laulala’s yellow card, but not only did he settle straight into the match, he immediately bagged himself a try that convinced Steve Hansen to leave him on for the rest of the match. Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 4. Wimpie van der Walt (Japan) The uniquely-named lock led Japan’s defensive charge against Samoa and was dominant in the aerial battle with a 100 per cent lineout effort alongside James Moore, which was made all the more impressive as he didn’t start either of their opening matches. AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 5. Sam Whitelock (New Zealand) Captained New Zealand in the absence of Kieran Read and led by example. Whitelock bagged a try himself, didn’t panic when New Zealand were clawed back in the first half and contributed well with the ball in hand. His aggression in kicking for the corner early on paid off with a 71-point return. EPA Rugby World Cup team of round three 6. Rhys Ruddock (Ireland) Ireland may have been criticised for a drab performance in their victory over Russia, but Ruddock proved the silver lining with a man-of-the-match display that could thrust him into the side for the big contests. AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 7. Sam Underhill (England) Another flanker named man of the match, Underhill was England’s defensive heartbeat against Argentina, but also an emphatic carrier who helped set up George Ford’s bonus point-clinching try. PA Rugby World Cup team of round three 8. Kazuki Himeno (Japan) The Japanese No 8 was one of their top performers against Samoa, carrying well and showing a deft touch with his ability to offload from the tackle. Earmarked as a real star of Japanese rugby, he looks to have real captaincy potential. AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 9. Frank Lomani (Fiji) A livewire showing as the beating heart of a Flying Fijian side back at full strength and firing on all cylinders. Scored a try himself and delivered the quick ball that the Pacific Islanders crave to play their unique brand of rugby. AP Rugby World Cup team of round three 10. Jordie Barrett (New Zealand) Stepped out of the shadow of older brother Beauden to play a starring role in the demolition of Namibia. Scored a try himself but it was the in which he created Anton Lienert-Brown’s score that really stood out, combining power, vision, passing ability and athletic determination to send the centre over. Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 11. Semi Radradra (Fiji) The star of the side this week. When Radradra is playing his best rugby he is simply unstoppable, and so he proved last week. The Bordeaux back scored twice against Georgia and led pretty much every attacking stats list as the European side failed to shackle is delightful talent. AP Rugby World Cup team of round three 12. Anton Lienert-Brown (New Zealand) His form is keeping Sonny Bill Williams out of the Test side when New Zealand play their crunch fixtures, but on the weekend’s evidence it was easy to see why. Two tries, the first an eye-catching mazy run from halfway, secures him the No 12 shirt this week, and probably for the All Blacks in the quarter-finals. Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 13. Timothy Lafaele (Japan) Kicked off the performance against Samoa with their first try, starring with teammate Kotaro Matsushima to tear the Pacific Islanders apart early on and pave the way to their bonus-point victory. AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 14. Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) How do you stop him? The answer is yet to be found, with Kolbe’s low centre of gravity, stunning footwork and Habana-like pace leaving team after team in knots – this time Italy – with two tries to kick-start his tally at this World Cup. AFP via Getty Images Rugby World Cup team of round three 15. Elliot Daly (England) Possibly his best performance for England in the No 15 shirt to date, Daly linked up superbly with Jonny May – who is hard done by not to make the side this week – and Anthony Watson in what was a scintillating first half for the English back three. Getty Images

World Rugby have refused to confirm what plans are being put in place for the game, but it appears impossible to stage the game in Yokohama on Saturday evening as scheduled given the extreme weather heading for Japan in what is forecast to be the worst typhoon in 60 years.

No match in the history of the World Cup has been relocated of called off, meaning that either decision on Thursday would prove groundbreaking.

When asked on Wednesday by The Independent whether playing at a new location in front of a closed stadium would be doable, the England camp were far from convinced.

“I've got no idea about having no fans,” said defence coach John Mitchell. “I wouldn't have a clue how it would affect us, I've never experienced that.

“I'm sure World Rugby in their wisdom would consider having a stadium full of people because I don't think it would be good for the game if an empty stadium was the case.

“Ultimately that's hypothetical. If that's going to happen we will make a plan but at the minute that's hypothetical. Why even consider it at this point in time. Wait until a decision is made by World Rugby and then we can go from there.”

England have no idea if or where their match with France will be played (Getty)

A number of England fans in Tokyo who have tickets for the match in Yokohama reacted furiously upon hearing that the game could be moved to a behind-closed-doors location, given that Oita is eight hours away by Bullet Train and easily accessible by flight on Thursday and Friday, before the typhoon is expected to arrive.

However, the logistical nightmare continues in that World Rugby would need to find accommodation for the best part of 150 people spreading across the England and France teams, coaches and support staff, and given that availability is already sparse following Wales’s match against Fiji there on Wednesday night, the relocation plan could be scuppered completely.

Furthermore, Japan’s Pool A showdown against Scotland could be moved to Monday if necessary, although the match will still take place in front of fans in Yokohama as planned, and the hope is that Hagibis will have passed through the area long before kick-off is due at 7:45pm Japan Standard Time [11:45am BST].

The latest update shows a change in direction by Typhoon Hagibus (Japan Meteorological Agency)

The imminent threat of Hagibis to the Yokohama and Tokyo region has World Rugby on red alert, with the weekend’s World Cup fixtures as well as the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka at risk of being cancelled, and to add to the current weather fears there were two earthquakes in the Tokyo area on Wednesday, with a 4.5-magnitude tremor early in the morning followed by a smaller evening tremor.

Across the eight previous World Cups, not a single game has had to be cancelled before, but unless Hagibis weakens considerably on its approach to the main Japanese island of Honshu or changes direction, the final weekend of the World Cup pool stage will be heavily affected.

Before the tournament started, Typhoon Faxai left three people dead in what was the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 60 years, with nearly 1,000,000 households destroyed by the tropical cyclone.

According to satellite imagery, Hagibis is considerably larger than Faxai and of similar or higher intensity after going through “among the most explosive rapid intensifications of any tropical cyclone on record anywhere on Earth”, though the hope is that it’ll weaken the close it gets to making landfall.