THE FATE OF the England versus Italy Six Nations rugby match now lies in the hands of the Italian government who will make the call on whether the March 14 game goes ahead.

Both the Italian and British governments are in constant dialogue with the respective rugby unions, the FIR and the RFU, about their Six Nations round five game in Rome, with a postponement looking increasingly likely. This follows the decision the IRFU and Irish government made yesterday to call off the Ireland-Italy game on March 7.

In response, Six Nations officials said plans to press ahead with the remaining five Six Nations matches were continuing, but with the number of cases of the coronavirus increasing by 45 per cent in Italy yesterday, government officials are bracing themselves for a prolonged period of lock-down.

There may be a call from the Italian government to play the Italy-England match behind closed doors. This order was handed down to football administrators in relation to five Serie A football matches which will be played in empty stadiums this weekend.

Six Nations administrators have confirmed they are monitoring the situation very closely but it’s looking increasingly certain that government officials will be the ones who make the decision on whether or not the match is played next month.

British health secretary, Matt Hancock, told the House of Commons yesterday that he would be discussing the problem with the department for digital, culture, media and sport, conscious of the fact that 20,000 England supporters are planning to attend the game in Rome.  “Our goal is to minimise social disruption, subject to keeping the public safe,” Hancock said. “These are difficult balances to strike.”

It has been reported that Nigel Huddleston, the new minister for sport, tourism and heritage, spoke with the RFU last night to consider about various proposals, including the possibility of a postponement.

Public Health England – the British equivalent of the HSE – have advised people returning from northern Italy to stay in isolation if they have symptoms of the illness.

However, there have been no incidents of the outbreak in Rome yet, hence why the Six Nations authorities said yesterday that “all other matches are currently scheduled to go ahead as normal.”

However it added that it would continue to monitor the situation “very closely with all Unions and the respective Government authorities and health organisations.”