Rugby grapples with coronavirus shutdown

Irish rugby players, professional and amateur, will have woken this morning to a very different sporting landscape as their governing bodies called a halt to all playing activity in response to the growing threat of Covid-19 on these shores.

The Guinness PRO14 season has been suspended while the Irish Rugby Football Union ordered the cessation of all training and playing island-wide across clubs and schools, from minis to adult rugby, including the Energia All Ireland Leagues.