Rugby officials fear that Six Nations could be scrapped

By ROBERT MILLWARD Herald correspondent

LONDON - Rugby officials and players fear the Six Nations championship could be abandoned altogether because of the foot–and–mouth outbreak sweeping across England and Wales.

This weekend's Wales–Ireland game in Cardiff was called off because of fears that Irish fans traveling to and from the game could pick up the disease on their footwear and bring it home.

Although foot–and–mouth disease very rarely harms humans, it affects livestock and spreads rapidly, often on the hooves of horses or the shoes of people who come into contact with it.

At least 24 separate cases of the disease have so far been reported across England and Wales.

Horse racing in Britain has been suspended for at least a week and an auto rally in Wales has been postponed.

Although soccer initially seems to have avoided any problems, rugby and horse racing officials are bracing themselves for more bad news.

England's Six Nations game in Dublin on March 24 is under threat because the Irish fear that thousands of English fans traveling to Lansdowne Road could carry the disease.

"There must be a doubt," said Six Nations chief executive Roger Pickering.

"We need to see how the outbreak is contained over the next few days. It's three weeks away but we're certainly looking at contingency plans in case the game does not go ahead.

"If there are more outbreaks it looks bleak."

Representatives of the Six Nations will hold an emergency meeting by telephone on Saturday to discuss the crisis.

"With the situation such as it is today, there is a risk of postponing the matches scheduled for March and April until May," French Rugby Federation president Bernard Lapasset said.

Another game in doubt would be France vs. Wales in Paris March 17.

The problem with postponing the games is that there is very little space in the calendar to fit them in.

Irish flank forward Kieron Dawson, whose team is headed for a Grand Slam confrontation with England, fears that the entire competition could be scrapped.

"All the players are absolutely gutted that the match against Wales has been canceled," he said.

"Everything in Ireland is geared towards the next Six Nations match and we are exceptionally disappointed the game will not take place.

"We understand that the farming industry is very important to the Irish economy and that no risk can be taken with people's livelihoods," Dawson said.

"It would be typical Irish luck if the entire championship was called off as we felt we had a realistic chance of beating England."