The Australian Football League’s attempt to forge on with the season despite the coronavirus outbreak lasted just one round before it was shut down esterday in the wake of a government crackdown on non-essential travel.

David Beckham’s representatives insist the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has “absolutely no plans to play in Australia” despite an insistence from Down Under that the former England captain has been in preliminary talks with A-League clubs.

LET’S hope it’s not an omen for the European Championship campaign. Ireland travelled all the way to Moscow yesterday but couldn’t get a result, as the Group B fixture meeting in the Russian capital ended without agreement.

John O’Neill has been re-installed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).