Six Nations finale gets the go-ahead

THE rescheduled Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland will be able to go ahead next week despite the country going into a fire-break lockdown.

The Welsh Government has confirmed that elite professional sport can continue during the lockdown, which will run from 6pm this Friday, October 23, to November 9.

It means Wales’s rearranged Six Nations finale against Scotland can take place as planned behind closed doors at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday, October 31 (2.15pm kick-off ).

Wayne Pivac’s Welsh team will also be free to travel to Paris to take on France in a warm-up match this Saturday (8pm UK time kick-off ).

That’s despite a 9pm curfew having been introduced in Paris in a bid to curb the soaring Covid-19 infection rate.

The Guinness PRO14 league can also proceed here in Wales, with the Ospreys entertaining Glasgow at the Liberty Stadium this Saturday.

Similarly, the Scarlets, Dragons and Cardiff Blues will be able to fulfil their fixtures away to Benetton, Ulster and Munster respectively.

In football, Swansea City, Cardiff City and Newport County can go ahead with their league matches this weekend, while Jayne Ludlow’s Wales women’s side will play two home Euro 2021 qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Norway on October 22 and 27 as planned.

Professional sport is allowed to continue as it is work and can’t be done from home, while players and staff are being privately tested for Covid-19 on a weekly basis.

Last week, 415 tests were conducted in Welsh rugby, with no positive results. Some 3,238 tests have been carried out over the past few months, with just three positive tests in total.