FRANCE SHOW ‘SOLIDARITY’

THE France Women’s XVs will travel to Dublin to complete the final fixture of the 2020 Six Nations after it emerged that isolation requirements for elite athletes returning to Ireland had put the fixture, originally scheduled for Lille, under threat. Government guidance here for elite and high-performance athletes, and teams, who travel back to Ireland from a country which is not on the travel Green List, is to restrict their movements for 14 days, aside from sporting activity such as training and competing. The France Women’s XV can travel to and from Ireland without restriction as there is no requirement from the French government to isolate on return to the country. This is not an issue for the Irish men’s national side, who, as full-time professionals remain within a strict highperformance bubble on their return from away fixtures. However, as the Women’s side are amateurs, it is not possible for many of them to commit to isolating for 14 days following a return from the match, if held in France, as they, understandably, have responsibilities to their families and employers, some of which are in the teaching and medical communities. In a statement last night, the IRFU said they full accepted the Government guidelines and welcomed the French solution. ‘We are extremely grateful to the French Federation and their women’s team for this superb act of solidarity,’ said IRFU CEO Philip Browne.