Six Nations organisers have confirmed there are no plans in place to cancel any more fixtures in this year's championship - but have conceded there is still a chance matches could still be postponed or played behind doors due to the spread of coronavirus. This means Ireland's clash with France in Paris on March 14th is set to go ahead, but potential government intervention could lead to it being called off. A statement released yesterday read: "Six Nations and its six unions and federations are following the situation very closely with their respective governments and relevant health authorities and will strictly follow any directive given that would impact sporting events." Meanwhile in his column this morning Gerry Thornley has looked at the impact coronavirus could have on the rest of the rugby season, including the Pro14 and the Champions Cup - and Leinster's last-eight clash with Saracens. He writes: "It's a guaranteed sell-out and the fervent hope remains that it goes ahead, although conceivably, for this to happen the possibility of it taking place behind closed doors and thus in an empty and cavernous Aviva Stadium has to be considered a real one, which would be a terrible shame."

Elsewhere Arsenal have kept their hopes of ending the season with silverware alive, after they beat League One Portsmouth 2-0 at Fratton Park in the FA Cup last night. After a rocky start, Mikel Arteta's decision to field a youthful side proved vindicated, with goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nkethiah either side of half-time seeing the Gunners into the quarter-finals. There are three more fifth round ties taking place tonight, with West Bromwich Albion welcoming Newcastle to the Hawthorns, Sheffield United travelling to Reading and Chelsea taking on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the tie of the evening.

In today's Pay for Play column Emmet Riordan has looked ahead to the 2020 Aer Lingus College Football Classic - the opening game of the college football season between Notre Dame and Navy - which will be held at the Aviva Stadium on August 29th. The fixture was also held in Dublin in 2012, and as he writes this summer's renewal should provide a big boost for the economy: "The numbers are mind-blowing, with the event eight years ago seeing a boost to the economy of more than €85 million, when 35,000 made the trip. With that figure set to be exceeded, it would represent a new record for the largest number of Americans travelling outside of the US for a single sporting or social event."

And Uefa have confirmed next month's Euro 2020 play-offs - including Ireland's trip to play Slovakia in Bratislava - and the main tournament itself are scheduled to go ahead as planned, following a meeting in Amsterdam yesterday. Amsterdam will host the draw for the second edition of the Uefa Nations League at 5pm this evening. Austria and Wales are among the teams Ireland could face in the fixtures which will take place between September and November this year.