Government and IRFU on possible collision course

The grim reality of Ireland’s Six Nations games being broadcast on subscription television was not ruled out yesterday as the landscape of the professional game in Europe continues to tilt in favour of England and France.

The current Six Nations deal with the BBC continues until 2017 and runs concurrently with RTÉ’s rights package with both channels free to air.

However, there have already been suggestions put forward that both BT Sport and Sky Sports would be keen to bid for rights to broadcast the championship.