French clubs delay decision on Paris return date

Ireland’s hopes of a swift resolution to finding a new date for the postponed RBS 6 Nations clash in Paris were stymied last night by a club versus country conflict in France.

The IRFU have given a preferred date of Saturday, March 3 to allow a full seven-day turnaround between both the Italy game in Dublin on February 25 and the Scotland game on March 10 but the French Federation have their Top 14 clubs to convince and their Ligue Nationale du Rugby (LNR) is not keen to lose its top players for another round of league matches, which would be the case in March.

A final decision is expected today when the Six Nations Council representatives from both countries reconvene for a lunchtime teleconference to nail down a new date for the game called off by referee Dave Pearson last Saturday night.