The Irish Rugby Football Union is to make €500,000 available to its clubs in light of the Covid-19 crisis, the governing body announced on Tuesday evening.

The spread of the Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc with sport, with Six Nations and Guinness PRO14 competitions once more affected.

World Rugby has announced a reduction in concussion incidents at last year’s World Cup in comparison to the 2018 elite competition average.

Many thanks to the reader who told me during the week that he ‘admired my anecdotes’.

The Financial Times has reported that CVC is “plotting an ambitious reshaping of global rugby” that started with the 2018 acquisition of a 27% holding in England’s Premiership Rugby.

Restrictions on public gatherings and sporting events put in place by the Italian authorities apply in the Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto regions.

Andy Farrell has experienced the cruel extremes of Anglo-Irish rugby conflict from both sides, for England in Dublin and Ireland in London.

With the nightmare of the World Cup in Japan finally consigned to history as the Andy Farrell era of Irish rugby got underway, it is somewhat ironic that the new boss’s very first tournament will have a direct influence on Ireland’s next World Cup campaign in France in three years’ time.

For all the elements that make up this brave new world for Andy Farrell and the Ireland team as they head into the 2020 Guinness Six Nations, it is one of the fundamental lessons from the disappointments of 2019 that will register the strongest on matchday one.

Supporting Scotland is tough going at the best of times, but the last four-and-a-bit months — since that abrupt wake-up call delivered by Ireland on the opening weekend of the 2019 World Cup — has been particularly fraught.

This was a game between two of the sport’s best. It stood to reason that everyone wanted to see it happen.

World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the men’s Six Nations 2020 as the road to Rugby World Cup 2023 begins in earnest for the world’s top referees.

Rugby’s battle against concussion and other head injuries has been joined by an Irish company with its introduction to the market of a new protective headguard.

Brendan O’Brien Connacht coach Andy Friend has sounded a highly encouraging note on Bundee Aki’s contract situation.

Ulster will be without Will Addison for their back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup games with Harlequins.

Former Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald has defended the province's handling of the signing of the "exceptional young man" Gerbrandt Grobler.

Jonathan Sexton let it be known last year that he would not walk gently into the good night as a rugby player.

The sport’s governing body wanted to revamp rugby’s global calendar with the introduction of a new competition for the top 12 teams from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The candidates to succeed Ireland and Joe Schmidt as World Rugby Team and Coach of the Year have been announced.

New Zealand hooker Dane Coles defended England’s ‘V-formation’ response to the All Blacks haka before the World Cup semi-final, joking that the RFU “earn a shitload of money so they’ll be able to pay the fine.”

Confirmed concussion rates have dropped by 12% from the 2015 competition, and 35% when compared to 22 elite adult competitions in 2018-19.

Referee Jaco Peyper was not considered for a World Cup semi-final appointment after an “inappropriate” picture of him with Welsh fans appeared on social media.

Referee Jaco Peyper was not considered for a World Cup semi-final appointment after an “inappropriate” picture of him with Welsh fans appeared on social media.

Japan's defeat of Ireland in Shizuoka in Pool A threw the best-laid plans of thousands of supporters, many of them Irish, up in the air.

Whether or not Japan, the Brave Blossoms, continue to defy the odds, in this Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final, the success of Jamie Joseph’s side, on home soil, should open doors at world rugby’s top table.

“You either go into the history books or I go home to my wife and kids, and everyone's healthy.”

Seiji Hirao played in three World Cups and saw a fourth as Japan's head coach. He was also a superstar in his home country.

And that includes World Rugby, the sport’s governing body, which has been stunned by the huge numbers being racked up in terms of television viewers and social media engagements as well as the good old-fashioned barometer of jersey sales.

The sport's governing body have opted for experienced referees for the four last-eight ties which all take place this weekend.