Ireland's Six Nations exclusion demanded

Northampton owner Keith Barwell fears fixture pile-up

The Six Nations championship should be settled without Ireland, according to Northampton Saints owner Keith Barwell.

He said that the English clubs were concerned that Ireland's refusal to play during the foot-and-mouth crisis would lead to fixture chaos.

Ireland's Six Nations games with England on 24 March and Scotland on 7 April were postponed because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak as was the game with Wales, which was due to take place in Cardiff on 4 March.

Irish rugby chiefs made the decision after consulting with their agricultural ministry.

The Irish agricultural ministry recommended to the IRFU that the England and Scotland games should be postponed and 30 days should elapse from the date of the last confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK before it is safe to resume international fixtures with UK-based teams.

You could go 29 days and then there's another outbreak and, of course, there's the Lions tour to consider

  Keith Barwell

"The fact of the matter is that the Irish have called these games off," said Barwell.

"I believe that they should be told that if they cannot fulfil their fixtures it should return to Five Nations just for this year," he added.

"You can't drag these things on. The administration of rugby is in a poor state as it is.

"The rugby administrators have no chance to organise another match if they are given a date of 30 days after the last case of foot-and-mouth.

"You could go 29 days and then there's another outbreak and, of course, there's the Lions tour to consider," he added.

Ireland could now end up playing three Six Nations matches in a fortnight.

The ties with England and Scotland clash with the Premiership play-off semi-finals and final in England and some clubs have intimated they would be unwilling to release players.

But the Rugby Football Union has already entered talks with the clubs to avert a possible club-versus-country row.

Six Nations tournament chief Roger Pickering said the Ireland-England match would go ahead on the weekend of 5-6 May and Ireland's match with Scotland would take place on 12-13 May.

The tie with Wales is scheduled to take place on 29 April.

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Remaining Six Nations fixtures:

17 Mar
France v Wales, Stade de France, Paris
Scotland v Italy, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

7 Apr
England v France, Twickenham

8 Apr
Italy v Wales, Stadio Flaminio, Rome

29 Apr (provisional date)
Wales v Ireland, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

5 May (possible date)
Ireland v England, Lansdowne Road, Dublin

12 May (possible date)
Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh