Andy Farrell: 'There are bigger things than rugby'

'We've waited a long time for international rugby to come back and it's a nice tonic for the country to be able to watch the sport at international level'

Ireland rugby head coach Andy Farrell. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Andy Farrell knows there are more important things than finishing a Six Nations championship later this month but the Ireland head coach believes playing Test rugby again can be a tonic for Covid-weary nation.

Farrell was talking on Friday as news emerged that NPHET, the National Public Health Emergency Team, was recommending to the Irish Government a move to Level Five of restrictions on its national framework for living with Covid-19, a move which put Ireland’s home game with Italy at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in eight days into serious doubt. Ireland are also scheduled to travel to Paris to play France on Saturday, October 31 as championship organisers attempt to conclude a tournament that was suspended in early March when coronavirus first arrived on European shores.