England Men’s Six Nations clash against Italy in Rome on March 14 has been postponed due to coronavirus, organised have announced.
The game was initially set to be played behind closed doors in line with protocol from the Italian government announced on Wednesday but sources told ESPN that a decision to postpone the match had been taken instead.
England Women’s Six Nations match against Italy on March 15 will also be postponed along with Under-20 matches.
A statement from Six Nations read: “The decision has now been taken to postpone the three matches between Italy and England (Men’s, Women’s, and U20) set to take place over the weekend of March 13, 14, 15 with the intention to reschedule them at later dates.
“Based on the information that is currently available, all other Six Nations matches are set to go ahead as scheduled. As previously stated, Six Nations fully intends to complete all 15 games across all three championships when time allows.
“We will refrain from making any rescheduling announcements while we keep assessing the situation. Six Nations will continue to monitor developments with our unions and their respective governments and health authorities.”
This weekend’s match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin was also postponed last month due to the virus in northern Italy but England’s home game against Wales on March 7 is set to go ahead as planned.
The tournament has already been affected by the outbreak with the clash between Italy and Scotland also cancelled last month.
Italy is the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak. More than 100 people have died and more than 3,000 have been infected with COVID-19 in recent weeks.