French authorities have yet to decide on their plans to field a rugby team in the Six Nations Championship.
France are committed to playing Italy on the opening weekend, but not beyond that due to the covid crisis.
Six Nations organisers are still waiting for approval from the French government for the tournament to be completed and while the French team have been given the go-ahead to travel to Rome on the opening weekend, the government has yet to give the give the green light for them to travel to Dublin for their second game.
“Tournoi des six nations Ouverture du match France-Pays de Galles au Stade de France à Saint-Denis…” by Ecole polytechnique / Paris / France is licensed under CC by-sa-2.0 
The Six Nations CEO, Ben Morel, said at the virtual launch of the competition: “In terms of the French authorities, we are in constant dialogue through the FFR. We have provided all our protocols, we have been considered as extremely robust and we are seeking some of the clarification on the specific rules about quarantine exemptions and that is what we are expecting further clarification from, which would look at entry from the UK, whether it is re-entry for the French teams or entry for the other unions.
“We are confident we will get the right authorisation. We are waiting for the final confirmation.”
Marler and Launchbury out of England Squad
England’s Six Nations preparations have taken a blow with the news that Joe Marler and Joe Launchbury have withdrawn from Eddie Jones’s squad.
Marler has pulled out citing family reasons while Launchbury has a fractured fibia and doesn’t think he’ll be fit before the competition ends in March.
Marler said the following on twitter.
Always grateful for the opportunity so not an easy decision, but want to do right by my family in these crazy times and won’t be meeting up with the squad for this tournament. Look forward to watching the team rip in. Go well 🌹 x
— Joe Marler (@JoeMarler) January 25, 2021
Women’s six nations on the move up the calendar?
The Women’s Six Nations could be permanently decoupled from the men’s edition.
It’s set to be played late in the spring having been delayed on account of the pandemic.
Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel says the move could become a permanent one if it proves successful.
The Ireland mens team named their Six Nations squad this week and you can find it here.
