I AM such a cynic when it comes to the Scottish Rugby Union’s blazerati that I really do believe that if the Japan v Scotland game is called off in the early hours of tomorrow morning, they will not carry out their veiled threat to take legal action against the organisers.

No, I think what all the SRU bluster has been about is chief executive Mark Dodson making excuses up front for the fact that Scotland failed to even get a bonus point against Ireland and that had we beaten them, Scotland wouldn’t be in this position.

It’s all a bluff and not too many rugby writers are falling for it, nor too many Scottish rugby fans.

To my way of thinking, the SRU are positioning themselves to gain some sort of financial recompense should Scotland be forced out by Hurricane Haggis. Money drives the SRU high heid yins most of the time, so why should it be any different now?

I know there is no prize money for the Rugby World Cup, but the secret participation agreements define who gets what and all 20 unions get an equal share of the pot from the outset. But the more you progress in the tournament, the more you get from the eventual financial package, which, to be fair, is needed to compensate unions for the loss of income from the Autumn Tests.

I don’t know how much is at stake and World Rugby never reveals the financial packages for each union at the World Cup, but it has to be assumed that a team reaching the latter stages gets more than one which exits at the pool stage. With World Rugby estimating income at £360 million and more from the current tournament, you can guess it’s not small potatoes and maybe a wee uplift would shut up the SRU,

READ MORE: Inept World Cup organisers compromise tournament’s integrity by cancelling games

I would have had much more respect for Mark Dodson and his stance against the organisers if I had been unaware of one simple fact: Dodson is a member of the World Rugby Council – as is John Jeffrey, who is on the executive committee of World Rugby and widely tipped to succeed either Bill Beaumont as World Rugby chairman or Agustin Pichot as vice-chairman. Jeffrey is the second longest-serving member of the committee after Beaumont.

The committee and the council sign off on all the agreements that cover the Rugby World Cup, so where the hell was Dodson when the participation agreement was being signed? I admire the fact that he is standing up for Scotland, but he cannot honestly condemn a ruling from World Rugby that adheres to the rulebook he was party to compiling.

It’s all very well being wise after the event, but why did the SRU not intervene at the planning stage to call for some flexibility in the arrangements? The tournament has been brilliant so far, but cancellations were foreseeable and plans B, C and D should have been put in place for such an event which, lest we forget, was entirely predictable.

Anyhow, barring an absolute disaster that damages the stadium and environs, the game is going to go ahead. My iPhone tells me so because it has a worldwide weather app which shows that Yokohama by Sunday evening will be storm-free – and it’s never let me down yet.

The problem is that we will not know until Sunday morning just how bad Haggis has hit the area. If there are doubts about public safety then the match cannot go ahead, even behind closed doors.

As a lifelong follower of racing and cricket and other weather-dependent sports, I have had to accept many times that an event can’t go ahead. Sadly, that’s where we are at now.

Hang all this talk about the integrity of the tournament being at stake – it will just be Scotland’s bad luck if the weather puts us out. At least this time we can blame Haggis and not a dreadful refereeing decision...

There’s another far from slight complication – the Brave Blossoms. Unless Samoa do the miraculous and beat Ireland, we will need to go to Yokohama tomorrow having to beat the host nation and either score a four-try bonus-point win against them – as we did in England in 2015 – or win and hope Japan don’t score a bonus point by getting four tries themselves or finishing seven points or closer to Scotland.

It will be no disgrace to lose to Japan, who beat Ireland with a performance out of the top drawer. Whether or not the Brave Blossoms can replicate that form remains to be seen. Remember that in 2015 they surpassed themselves against South Africa only to ship five tries against us in the following match.

They have improved all round, but I wasn’t that convinced by them against Samoa. The pressure is massively on them to keep up their form and style of play and I suspect that then pressure might get to them. But I would not be surprised if they beat Scotland, not in the slightest.

Anyhow, if we do win, Scotland will be in Japan for another week before the All Blacks send us home.