TOKYO -- A 100th cap presentation, some ASADA testing and a 3am arrival into Odawara: The Wallabies certainly had an eventful few hours after their victory over Georgia in Shizuoka.
Typhoon Hagibis has thrown the Rugby World Cup into chaos as Japan prepares for its full force to take effect later into the weekend. People are being advised to stay indoors with torrential rain and strong wind gusts of up 252km/h predicted across both Saturday and Sunday.
After England's clash with France and New Zealand's match against Italy were both cancelled for Saturday, World Rugby is still waiting to make a decision on the decisive Pool A fixture between Scotland and Japan set down for Yokohama on Sunday evening.
While the Wallabies' match against Georgia still went ahead, the game was played amid heavy rain which made handling tough for both teams as the Australians ran out 27-8 winners. Knowing they had to move quickly and relocate to Odawara, the post-game formalities certainly had the Wallabies on their toes.
"It was quite hectic. Looking back it was pretty funny. The boys enjoyed it - well not enjoyed it with how [the typhoon] went off because we wanted to get back to Tokyo today," Kerevi said. "Obviously plans have changed and you have to give massive credit and a pat on the back to staff. They worked really well straight after the games and [Rob] Simmons' 100th cap for our brotherhood. To see him get that with his family was really special.
"Straight after that we got the recovery done and guys were on the go. Ice baths, showers and then we were on the bus. Some of the boys had to do ASADA testing which held us back but all the boys waiting in the bus had meals ready for us. Straight from the stadium we travelled all the way to Odawara which took about two-and-a-half hours, three hours. By the time I was in bed it was about 3am.
"Most of our families were able to get here as well. In terms of safety we didn't want them going back to Tokyo. We had to change plans. You've got to give massive credit to the staff for helping families leave earlier through the game. At about 9.30 some of them left to get on the trains to go to Odawara or Tokyo. We got here and there were no complaints from the boys."
The Wallabies will stay in Odawara until Wednesday instead of flying south to Oita as they planned to on Monday, and will hopefully be able to return to training after enjoying a day off on Sunday.
While they eventually finished bonus-point winners over Georgia via an 80th minute Will Genia try, the Wallabies committed 21 turnovers as they struggled to hold onto the ball in the difficult conditions. The Europeans, to their credit, defended bravely, but having had 76 percent of possession and 80 percent territory the Australians certainly let multiple opportunities slip.
Kerevi put that down to a lack of execution but praised the Wallabies forwards for providing a platform his backline should have done more with.
"Like I said it's the little moments we need to take from the game," he said. "We obviously had a plan in place, even with the weather. But we just didn't execute it at the time. We had a lot of handling errors, as much as other things.
"I thought the forwards played outstanding. Us as a backline can still step up in terms of games like that. It was a forwards-oriented game with a lot of set-piece but we can take some pressure off and really step up and help out there. That's the backline putting their hand up, in this sense, and take the learnings from last night and implementing it this week."
Australia will face England in the first quarterfinal next Saturday, a team against which the Wallabies have lost their last six straight. Eddie Jones' side will be well rested for that match given their final pool game with France was cancelled and will be confident of extending that recent winning record further.
But Kerevi said the World Cup was different and the Australians would be doing everything they can, even with the change in plans caused by Typhoon Hagibis, to turn things around against the Auld Enemy.
"I love playing England. They're a great team. They have been really playing well, not just in this World Cup but in the last couple of years to get to where they are at now," Kerevi said. "If it is England, we are excited for the challenge ahead. They have some awesome players and some awesome firepower and we're excited to get stuck into the week."
Asked whether there were any mental scars because of England's recent dominance, Kerevi added: "This is the World Cup. You can talk about all the stats and that, but you saw Japan and Ireland. Anyone can talk about stats at the World Cup but we are just focused on our process for this week, take our learnings from the Georgia game and go hard this week. I can't talk too much about the past. That's why it is in the past. We will just focus on the present."