The Millennium Stadium roof could be closed for games in this season's Six Nations Championship. Tournament chairman Allan Hosie confirmed that an agreement had been reached where the roof of the Cardiff venue would be closed during "extreme, adverse" weather conditions, providing both sides agree. (Wales are hosts to Ireland on March 3rd).

On the official launch of this season's championship in London yesterday, Hosie tried to deflect questions surrounding the whole structure of the competition and its place in the fixture calendar.

Prominent voices within the game have called for the matches to be condensed into a six-week format, rather than the current system which sees matches played every fortnight.