SIX NATIONS ROCKED
Ireland-Italy off amid coronavirus fears with doubts growing over other fixtures
The Six Nations are scrambling to salvage this season’s Championship amidst the devastation wrought by the coronavirus after Ireland’s home match against Italy on March 7 was postponed yesterday and doubts grew over england’s visit to Rome the following weekend.
Officials at the RFU and the Italian Rugby Federation last night expressed confidence that eddie Jones’ side will be able to finish their campaign as planned on March 14 at the Stadio Olimpico.
however, whether the fixture goes ahead will ultimately be decided by the public health advice each union receives from their respective governments.
The Irish government acted decisively yesterday in postponing three matches against Italy after the death toll in the country rose to 12 from 378 reported cases, with women’s and under-20 fixtures scheduled for March 8 in Dublin also put on hold.
The move places the viability of the Six Nations in doubt. Officials from all six countries and the organising committee will hold talks over the next few days about how and when to rearrange the postponed fixtures, as well as liaising with their respective governments over how to ensure the other games go ahead.
Scotland host France and travel to Wales in their concluding fixtures and last night an SRU spokesman told Sportsmail: ‘Scottish Rugby is in regular contact with both Scottish Government and the Guinness Six Nations to closely monitor the coronavirus situation. At this time, our preparations for the forthcoming match versus France are continuing as normal.’
The Six Nations seems certain to overrun, as it did following postponements due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001, when it was not completed until October, as the next available date which would not cause huge disruption to the club calendar is not until the european Cup semi-final weekend at the start of May.
Grand Slam-chasing France or england may have won the championship by then but, as it stands, Ireland could still have a chance of the title if their rivals slip up.
‘We will be holding further discussions with all six unions with respect to the rescheduling options for all the affected games, factoring in the current dynamic situation,’ a statement from the Six Nations read. ‘All other matches are currently scheduled to go ahead as normal.’
The Italian sports ministry briefed the Six Nations yesterday that there are no plans to extend the current travel restrictions in place which are due to expire on Sunday, as well as pointing out that Lazio’s Serie A game with Bologna in the Stadio Olimpico is going ahead on Saturday. Up to 20,000 england fans were planning to travel to Rome for the climax of their Six Nations campaign, but their number may restricted amid concerns that the outbreak of the virus in northern Italy could spread further south.
The Football Association, meanwhile, are also liaising with government as Italy are due at Wembley for a friendly against england on March 27 ahead of euro 2020, but there are no plans to postpone the fixture at present.
UeFA also confirmed that they are still working to the planned timetable for that tournament, with Glasgow among a number of host cities.
‘euro 2020 will kick off on June 12, 2020 in Rome,’ a statement read. ‘UeFA is in touch with the relevant international and local authorities regarding the coronavirus and its development. For the moment, there is no need to change anything in the planned timetable. The issue will be kept under constant scrutiny.’
The Cheltenham Festival will go ahead, with director Ian Renton saying there are no plans to limit the 250,000 spectators who attend every year, or stage the four-day event behind closed doors, a policy which has been adopted in recent weeks by the racing authorities in hong Kong.
‘In reality, we are here to stage the festival for owners, trainers, the horses and racegoers,’ said Renton. ‘That is what the festival is all about.’
The Tokyo Olympics are also set to go ahead as planned in July and August, although Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday called for all sport in the country to be scrapped for a fortnight in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.