Brian O'Driscoll has accused Eddie Jones of 'scaremongering' and admitted he relished the sight of the England head coach's comments backfiring so spectacularly against France.

WILL KELLEHER IN DUBLIN: The 59-year-old Bono dropped into the Irish camp to give a rallying speech to Andy Farrell's team ahead of their Six Nations clash with England.

England dominated from start to finish as they took a 24-12 victory over Ireland. Influential fly-half Johnny Sexton struggled to get into the game as England's defence barely gave him room to breathe.

The deadly epidemic has swept through northern parts of Italy and there have been calls to prevent the disease reaching the shores of Ireland with the game set to take place on March 7.

There is an irony that 20 minutes after Barry Geraghty thought that his Champion Hurdle hopes might have been dashed on the final Saturday in November a bright new chance emerged.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MIKE DICKSON: The BBC's voice of racing is in the final furlong of his career with the corporation, and admits it will hurt when he crosses the finish line.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: The 77-year-old is very well-connected in racing circles and has good relationships with key figures at ITV, where he was first employed as a pundit in 1971.

It worked with Politologue in Wednesday's Queen Mother Champion Chase and Paul Nicholls is hoping that saving Clan Des Obeaux for one big shot will pay off in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Chosen Mate was victorious in the sixth of Friday's races at Cheltenham after seeing off Us and Them and Maracuja in a packed field to take home the Grand Annual Handicap Chase.

Reports suggesting that large public gatherings will soon be banned mean racing's position as the last major sport to still be operating normally looks close to ending.

Some of Britain's biggest Flat meetings, headed by the June jewels of Royal Ascot and the Epsom Derby, are shrouded in uncertainty after racing was shut down until the end of April.

Considering Hong Kong borders mainland China, from where Covid-19 emanated, it might sound surprising that jockey Neil Callan feels he is currently 'in the safest place in the world'. 

The British Horseracing Authority have stood down 80 per cent of its staff in an emergency financial plan to cut a third of its normal monthly budget. Over 200 out of 260 staff will be furloughed from work.

The BHA has indicated that Flat racing under restrictions will be the priority when the sport is allowed to resume with Summer jump racing fitting in when it can.

Former jockey Mark Dwyer has paid tribute to Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer Peter Beaumont, who has died at the age of 85.

It has been decided the 2019-20 titles should be awarded on the standings when the sport was shut down on March 17 with racing suspended due to the coronavirus.

New dates will now have to be sought for the four Classics, which are the 2,000 Guineas on May 4 and the 1,000 Guineas on May 5 at Newmarket, as well as the Oaks on June 5 and Derby on June 6.

The beneficiary is SASH, charity for East Surrey Hospital and all the services provided by Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, local to Lingfield racecourse.

The son of Giant's Causeway was yesterday sadly euthanised at Kildangan Stud as a result of health issues, and brought an illustrious career at stud to an end.

Leading rider Jamie Spencer is facing sometime out of the saddle following an accident on the Newmarket gallops on Friday. The 39-year-old Irishman was returning to the David Simcock stable.

SPECIAL REPORT BY MARCUS TOWNEND: There is concern that ramifications of the coronavirus shutdown will be felt for years, rather than months, in the racing community.

The four-day Festival was staged as planned in front of 250,000 people, with additional hygiene measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, and concluded on March 13. 

Taking a serious view on the ante-post Classic markets is often a perilous enough exercise as it is without the current uncertainty on whether racing may or may not resume in the short term.

SAM TURNER (Robin Goodfellow) runs the rule over half a dozen of the more interesting British-trained fillies which may possibly take their chance in the 1,000 Guineas.

SAM TURNER (Robin Goodfellow) highlights half a dozen exciting three-year-old fillies who appear likely types to contest a race of that nature in what remains of this season.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MARCUS TOWNEND: A leopard does not change its spots. It is no surprise then that Sir Anthony McCoy is delighting in retelling a story which will make some feel queasy.

EXCLUSIVE BY MARCUS TOWNEND: A one-off new format to decide the 2020 champion Flat jockey is set to be drafted to take account of the pandemic disruption to the season.

SAM TURNER (Robin Goodfellow) spoke to some successful horse racing professionals and sports bettors about their views and methods they endeavour to employ on a daily basis.

The tight guidelines of the strictest scenario for a possible return to racing have been underlined with the selected racecourses operating as almost sealed sites.

Newmarket trainer Amy Murphy says maintaining a routine has been key to keep a racing stable operating inside the COVID-19 shut down.

Victor Ludorum is the 5-6 favourite with Coral to maintain his unbeaten record in Monday's Prix De Fontainebleu at Longchamp.

EXCLUSIVE: When Aidan O'Brien-trained Anthony Van Dyck landed Britain's most prestigious Flat race last June, the colt scooped a first prize of £921,538 with the historic race worth a total of £1,623,900.

Andrea Pirlo has sued a man who pretended to be the Italian footballer for two years in order to receive free clothes and jewellery.

Giacinti opened the scoring following a goalmouth scramble inside 15 minutes, while Galli double Le Azzurre's lead four minutes into the second half with a long range strike.

After 17 hugely successful years and 656 appearances for Serie A giants Juventus, Gianluigi Buffon made the move to Paris Saint-Germain last summer on a free transfer.

Mario Balotelli has reportedly landed himself in trouble with the Italian authorities after the former Manchester City striker allegedly paid a bar owner €2,000 to drive his moped into the sea.

The astonishing revelation about Gianfranco Zola has come from former Italian footballer Fabrizio Maiello, who turned to crime after seeing his career end abruptly due to injury.

Moise Kean is one of the exciting young players in the world; an Italian international, Serie A champion and important figure in the fight against racism, while still in his teens.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: The extremely-talented Juventus forward and Italy international is on the brink of sealing a £36million move to the Premier League, which would be a great coup by Marco Silva.

Moise Kean is one of the most exciting young players in the world; an Italian international, Serie A champion and important figure in the fight against racism, while still in his teens.

Luis Alberto's second-half equaliser earned Lazio a 1-1 draw with AS Roma in a fast and furious Rome derby in Serie A on Sunday. Aleksander Kolarov opened the scoring with a penalty.

Roberto Mancini has left Everton's new signing Moise Kean out of his latest Italy squad as a punishment for turning up late to a team meeting, according to Football Italia. 

Forward Lorenzo Insigne has withdrawn from Italy's squad with a muscular problem ahead of European Championship qualifiers against Armenia and Finland.

Azzurri coach Roberto Mancini was enraged as his squad failed to produce any serious chances in the second half when it held a man advantage - until substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini scored.

The 25-year-old defender started the top-of-the-table Group J Euro 2020 qualifier against Finland at the Tampere Stadium. But left-back Emerson sustained the problem after just six minutes.

The midfielder, now playing for Boca Juniors, retired from international football back in November 2017 after Italy's shock defeat to Sweden, which denied them a place at the 2018 World Cup.

Sean Dyche has quashed talk of Jay Rodriguez making a shock move to Inter Milan, branding it one of the strangest he has heard. Rodriguez only joined Burnley for £10million in the summer.

There is plenty at stake over the next fortnight with teams on the brink of qualifying for the European Championships in 2020, while some nations hit the road for some eagerly-anticipated friendlies.

The Argentine striker has been in enthralling form this season, bagging three goals in nine appearances in all competitions, including a strike against the Catalan giants in the Champions League.

EXCLUSIVE BY SAMI MOKBEL: Rodwell will arrive in Rome with a view to completing a short-term deal until the end of the season.