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File photo: Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

Too soon to talk about Serie A, FA doesn't expect fans at matches 'any time soon'

European football is nudging towards resumption at various speeds.

ACROSS EUROPE, THE sport administrators’ wheels are turning a little quicker with the scent of competition resumption about.

German football’s move towards restarting the Bundesliga this month has them in pole position to kick-off top-flight football again and seemingly increased the need for countries with higher Coronavirus death rates to find a solution of their own.

Spain, which has the highest number of confirmed cases in Europe, is targetting a mid-June return behind closed doors for La Liga. The UK has the second-highest death rate on the continent and the Premier League is attempting to convince clubs to agree to play play matches behind closed doors at neutral venues. France moved to abandon Ligue 1 and declare PSG champions.

In Italy, the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora yesterday said it was too early to discuss the return of Serie A.

Individual training will be permitted again in Italy this week, though team training not be sanctioned until 18 May at the earliest.

“I read strange things around but nothing has changed,” said the minister, “in terms of the resumption of the championship – for now we don’t talk about it.”

Chairman of England’s FA Greg Clarke today admitted he can’t foresee fans at football league matches ‘any time soon’, a reality that may linger on into the 2020/21 season.

“The reality is that we just don’t know how things are going to pan out,” Clark said in an open letter to FA council.

“But with social distancing in place for some time to come we do face substantial changes to the whole football ecosystem.

“For example it’s hard to foresee crowds of fans – who are the lifeblood of the game – returning to matches any time soon.”

The chairman also advised that a budget reduction of £75 million and warned that ‘a worst case scenario’ would keep the reduced budget in place for four years – a state of play that would affect ‘projects that we all value.’

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    Mute gerrygag
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    Mar 19th 2023, 9:35 AM

    Excellent analysis of all the pieces of the jigsaw of moves leading to great tries

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    Mute Kenneth O Connor
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    Mar 19th 2023, 9:41 AM

    Great analysis as always. What an atmosphere yesterday. Delighted for Sexton and Healy!!! What a Six Nations send off

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    Mute Noel Lynn
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    Mar 19th 2023, 10:47 AM

    @Kenneth O Connor: Healy not getting a run was disappointing and strange

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    Mute Gary
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    Mar 19th 2023, 11:06 AM

    @Noel Lynn: He did… only about 4 minutes but he did play.

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    Mute Gary Donlan
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    Mar 19th 2023, 9:54 AM

    Yesterday(and last week) should put to bed any doubt about Conan’s value. Every bit as effective as Doris imo.

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    Mute Gary Galligan
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    Mar 19th 2023, 11:10 AM

    @Gary Donlan: doris level ahead

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    Mute Bill Smith
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    Mar 19th 2023, 1:23 PM

    @Gary Donlan: I’m a big, big fan of Conan – he’s an outstanding player – but I’d have to acknowledge that Doris is at the very top of the global tree. And he has so much more to grow, being so young. Arguably a future World Player of the Year nominee, if not winner.

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    Mute Cian O'Toole
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    Mar 19th 2023, 11:04 AM

    I see lots of people saying how England really used line speed yesterday to get in Irelands face, that’s not what happened at all. England played a soft drift defence, not putting too much pressure on the first carrier / passer, and not committing too many men to the breakdown, opting to be more disruptive and messy rather than look for turnovers. It was an interesting tactic and one that threw a lot of the Irish players off, particularly Furlong who takes the first pivot option quite often. Ireland will need to learn how to adapt to it by World Cup, I can’t imagine South Africa or France would try it, they would trust their line speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Scotland or even New Zealand thought about using it.

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    Mute Noel Lynn
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    Mar 19th 2023, 10:22 AM

    Great analysis there. It shows really how intelligent this group are. Dorris, JVF,, Aki, Sexton, Hansen running subplots and dummies lines and how they build a try 3 phases out. To have so many on the same page is extraordinary and as Farrell said, they will get a lot better over the next few months with more time collectively in camp.
    Roll on the WC

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    Mute Eamon Holly
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    Mar 19th 2023, 10:32 AM

    It was squeaky bum time for much of the game. England gave it everything. Ireland found a way to win. Work done with decoy runners is magnificent. Enjoy, upwards and onwards to France

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    Mute Jb Walshe
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    Mar 19th 2023, 4:25 PM

    That was some offload by Conan for sheehans try.

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    Mute Gary Galligan
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    Mar 19th 2023, 1:53 PM

    Sheehan is a pure speed merchant

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Mar 19th 2023, 11:33 PM

    @Gary Galligan: He’s a 4×4 at full speed.

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    Mute Padraig Fallon
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    Mar 19th 2023, 12:11 PM

    On the strike plays which Ireland use we have seen a few of these in this 6 nations I believe they have only used a small number of these in this 6 nations and there are many more which they had no need to use and they are been reserved for the later stages of the world Cup.

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    Mute Pud
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    Mar 19th 2023, 12:11 PM

    I would imagine when Farrell and his team review this game they will be a little concerned. Obviously the short term gain here, winning a grand slam, is brilliant. But there was a lot of pressure going into the game and we did not handle it well. Ultimately a red card may have won it for Ireland and whether you agree or disagree with the card the nature of it shows it can how easily happen under current rules. (There was at least 1 red card possibility for us that was missed by the ref and TMO). This team will ultimately be judged on how it performs in the World Cup. When they meet Scotland on the 7th of October it will more than likely be a knock out game. The pressure on them will easily be as intense as yesterday, probably more so. They will need to be a lot better. If we don’t make it out of the group, this Grand Slam will lose a lot of it’s shine. Of course hopefully by the time we meet Scotland SA will have 2 losses so it won’t matter :)

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    Mute Bill Smith
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    Mar 19th 2023, 1:35 PM

    @Pud: OTOH, the experience of yesterday, a real pressure cooker, will stand to them. Plus, those guys played a lot of intense rugby over a short period of time. Some were definitely not at their best, following injuries (Furlong, for example, looked rusty; Henshaw wasn’t fully up to speed; Ringrose in and out). Farrell took some risks, playing guys like Porter, VDF, Keenan, Hansen and others to their limits (Keenan looked tired yesterday, as did others). The player management plan for the RWC needs to cater for the interactive effects of physical endurance and how it affects mental/emotional resilience. I’m pretty confident they’re on top of that. And again, all the players will be better for the experience of this 6N.

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    Mute Seamus Kelly
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    Mar 19th 2023, 9:11 PM

    @Pud: South Africa then Scotland…followed by France or New Zealand…three massive banana skins….I don’t think if we are stopped before semi final, yesterday’s outstanding achievement will be diminished….cruel world cup draw.

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    Mute Name can be blank
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    Mar 19th 2023, 3:16 PM

    Herring sealed victory over the All Blacks with a similar try in the third test .. hooker is definitely a position we don’t need to worry about… bench again made the difference yesterday

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Mar 19th 2023, 11:29 PM

    Murray Kinsella, single handedly helping other teams work out Ireland!!

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