Dizzying Rugby World Cup opening leaves referees and players in a spin

The opening weekend of the tournament put officials in the spotlight and showed the value of tactical versatilityThe opening week of a Rugby World Cup is always a blur of first impressions and fast-changing perceptions but, by anyone’s standards, Japan has been something else. It is not the world’s biggest rugby tournament alone that has been widening visitors’ horizons, in a dizzying, delightful and occasionally disorientating few days.Such unfamiliarity may just go some way towards explaining why some teams have underperformed in their opening games. Aside from a slick-looking Wales, New Zea…