Six Nations agree on new date for deferred Ireland-France tie

The Council, who had earlier ruled out the option of this weekend, met yesterday and decided on March 4.

Ireland's postponed match against France has been rescheduled for Sunday March 4, Six Nations Rugby Ltd confirmed last night.

The game was aborted 10 minutes before kickoff on Saturday night after the Stade de France pitch was deemed to be unplayable following a week of sub-zero temperatures in Paris.

The Six Nations Council, who had earlier ruled out the option of this weekend, met yesterday and decided on March 4.

"We are delighted that we have agreed a new date within the Six Nations window for the match between France and Ireland," said John Feehan, the Six Nations Rugby Ltd chief executive.

The French Rugby Federation (FFR) wanted the game to be played next season so that the Top 14 clubs would not have to lose their players to another international weekend. Such a move would potentially have resulted in the championship finishing without a winner, but that scenario has been avoided.

France's next match is against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 26, and Philippe Saint-Andre has not made any changes to his squad, with the coach yesterday naming the same 23 players he had assembled for the Ireland game.

Dimitri Yachvili, the Biarritz scrum-half, is omitted as he continues to battle back pain, meaning Stade Francais' Julien Dupuy remains in the squad.

"We preferred to keep Julien Dupuy as Dimitri Yachvili still has his back problems," said Saint-Andre.

"This is more consistent. Everyone did the preparation together. It was difficult to remove someone from the group."

Meanwhile, Alasdair Strokosch, the Scotland flanker, is likely to miss the rest of the tournament after fracturing his hand in Sunday's defeat to Wales.

"Recovery from such an injury takes typically between four to six weeks," James Robson, the Scotland team doctor said in a Scottish Rugby statement.

* Agencies