Ireland v France postponed, Wales v Scotland still going ahead

Rob O'Hanrahan

Two of the three games are confirmed to be postponed.

This story was originally published at 10:53am, and updated at 13:15.

Ireland’s game against France in Paris will not be going ahead on Saturday, As confirmed by French Minister for Sport Roxana Mărăcineanu in a statement this afternoon.

#GuinnessSixNations

Following instructions received from the authorities in France, the decision has been made to postpone the @SixNationsRugby match between France and Ireland. We are still awaiting confirmation for the Women’s & U20’s fixtures.https://t.co/GFsivV4Rrl

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) March 9, 2020

With news on Sunday evening that the French government were banning gatherings of over 1,000 people, the Six Nations committee met early on Monday morning to discuss plans for the final round of fixtures. Reports began to emerge that both France v Ireland and Wales v Scotland would be postponed until later this year. As of yet, the game in Cardiff has still not been officially cancelled, according the Six Nations in a statement released this afternoon;

“Following instructions received from the authorities in France, the decision has been made to postpone the Round 5 Guinness Six Nations match between France and Ireland. We are still awaiting confirmation for the Women’s and U20’s fixtures.

The Wales V Scotland Guinness Six Nations and U20 Six Nations matches will be going ahead as scheduled.

The fixture between Wales Women and Scotland Women is also postponed after a Scottish player tested positive for Covid-19 and a further seven members of the Scotland camp (players and management) are self-isolating.”

Italy’s game against England, due to be held in Rome, has already fallen foul of increasing restrictions across the continent.

The Six Nations committee, according to a report in Midi-Olympique earlier this morning, plan to hold refixed games in the last weekend of October. Ireland v Italy would likely take place the weekend before. This would likely make for an extended international period, with the traditional November internationals taking place the following three weekends across the northern hemisphere.

France’s loss to Scotland on Sunday has opened up the tournament, and two wins from Ireland’s remaining two fixtures, whenever they are played, could hand Andy Farrell a Six Nations title in his first campaign as Ireland Head Coach.