Coronavirus: France’s Six Nations finale with Ireland postponed

France’s decisive Six Nations encounter with Ireland has been postponed due to the spread of coronavirus.

Les Bleus’ hopes of a Grand Slam were ended by a defeat to Scotland on Sunday, and they are now level on points with England on 13 points after four matches.

They can still clinch the title with a victory over Ireland at the Stade de France, but now face a wait to have that fixture played.

France’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu announced on Monday that the game will not take place as scheduled on Saturday.

Maracineanu did not confirm a new date for the game, which is the second Ireland match of the tournament to be postponed.

Their clash with Italy, which had been due to go ahead last Saturday in Dublin, was also called off.

A Six Nations statement later confirmed that, while there will be no game in Saint-Denis, Wales’ clash with Scotland in Cardiff will go ahead.

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

“The Wales v Scotland 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.

“Six Nations and its constituent unions and federations will work closely to identify dates on which all postponed matches will take place. No immediate announcement will be made on rescheduling as we will need to discuss with all relevant stakeholders and assess the evolution of the situation.”

France has 1,116 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the second most in Europe behind Italy (7,375).

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