Six Nations game and St Patrick's Day Dublin parade cancelled over coronavirus

The France v Ireland Six Nations match and the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin have been cancelled due to the coronavirus.

The game was due to be played in Paris on Saturday, but will now not go ahead on the advice of the French government.

Dublin's St Patrick's Day parade was cancelled after a Cabinet sub-committee meeting was held in the Republic.

Cork has also cancelled its parade.

As it stands, the Wales v Scotland match is the only game in the final round of the Six Nations due to go ahead as originally scheduled, after the Italy v England game in Rome was postponed last week.

A statement from Six Nations Rugby read: "Following instructions received from the authorities in France, the decision has been made to postpone the Round 5 Guinness Six Nations match between France and Ireland. We are still awaiting confirmation for the Women's and U20s fixtures."

There were reports on Monday lunchtime that the French sports ministry had decided matches in France's top-flight football competition, Ligue 1, should be played behind closed doors or in front of no more than 1,000 spectators as a measure to limit the spread of the virus.

Sports governing bodies in the United Kingdom attended a meeting with broadcasters and Government officials on Monday to discuss contingency plans in the event that advice around coronavirus changes here in the coming days or weeks.

As of Monday morning, the UK had 280 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and three people have died in UK hospitals.