NIK SIMON'S GAIN LINE: Sale Sharks are waiting in the wings if England star Jonny May does not sign a new contract with Leicester Tigers. The former Gloucester winger has reached a stand-off.

As of Sunday night, most clubs were still gathering their players for training on Monday morning, despite the impending news.

CHRIS FOY - WORLD OF RUGBY: Very few sports have the monetary resilience to withstand this crisis and rugby certainly isn't one of them.

Gallagher Premiership club Leicester Tigers are no longer up for sale. The Tigers issued a statement on Wednesday confirming an end to the formal sale process.

WILL KELLEHER: The RFU have prematurely ended all rugby in England at all levels - aside from the Premiership - in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government turned down a call to give the Six Nations Group A status, with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee labelling the decision a 'missed opportunity'.

EXCLUSIVE: Saracens might be saved from Premiership relegation in a doomsday scenario where a clutch of clubs go bust due to a lack of income during the coronavirus chaos.

English rugby is in turmoil as players were being advised to consider strike action after Premiership clubs demanded swingeing pay cuts amid fears of impending financial disaster.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY NIK SIMON: Only seven days ago, Jack Nowell still had a note in his diary earmarking this weekend as the time for him to return to Exeter's starting team.

Grassroots teams have urged the RFU to delve into their deep pockets to save ailing clubs, after the Union cancelled the rugby season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The RFU have cancelled all rugby in England at all levels this season - aside from the Premiership - amid the COVID-19 crisis. Sportsmail gauges views from within the game about the surreal scenario.

The RFU fear they will lose up to £50m in revenue during the coronavirus pandemic without the use of their prize asset, Twickenham stadium.

Marland Yarde is set to be offered a new contract by Sale after his rehabilitation work with Danny Welbeck paid off. The England winger was out of action for a year with an horrific knee injury.

England international Billy Vunipola insists he is 'definitely staying' at Saracens and hopes to help the crisis-hit club secure an immediate return to the Gallagher Premiership.

England lock George Kruis has admitted his frustration at seeing possibly his last Six Nations derailed but insists rugby players have not got it as bad as Olympic athletes.

Eddie Jones has agreed to a pay cut 'in excess of 25 per cent' as part of the RFU's attempts to off-set the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to a shut-down of the rugby season.

Billly Vunipola has ended speculation about his future by confirming that he will stay at Saracens next season, despite their demotion to the Championship.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY WILL KELLEHER: For players like Richard Wigglesworth nearing the end of their contracts, lockdown life has left them in limbo over what happens next.

EXCLUSIVE BY NIK SIMON: England prop Joe Marler is considering quitting rugby with immediate effect. The 29-year-old is understood to have become disillusioned with the sport.

When Luke Doherty took himself to a retreat in the mountains to learn about Buddhism, little did he know his techniques would be used to help guide rugby players through the stresses of a pandemic.

England and Exeter wing Jack Nowell's season has been put on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving him and thousands of his colleagues at a loose end waiting for the season to restart.

Richard Parks knows a thing or two about self-isolation and is probably the least concerned of anyone about the prospect of closing his front door to the rest of the world for the next few months.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY WILL KELLEHER: Life in the lockdown is exacting enough for everyone - but not many have as many balls to juggle as Gareth Steenson.

EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS FOY: Bill Beaumont has warned rugby's global community that 'everyone will suffer' in the fall-out from the coronavirus shutdown, called for unity and more state help.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: Premiership Rugby are considering staging a summer play-off series to determine this season's champions and raise money for beleaguered clubs.

The RFU will determine the final places of the Championship - the second tier of domestic competition - with a 'best playing record formula' after ending the season early due to coronavirus.

CHRIS FOY: There has been a polarised response to the news that Eddie Jones will remain England's head coach until the 2023 World Cup. Many people are delighted. Others are aghast.

Eddie Jones is stuck in Japan due to the coronavirus outbreak where England still intend to tour in July - although it is increasingly likely the trip will be called off this month.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY NIK SIMON: Last month, Guy Thompson had just finished his morning session in Oadby when his world was turned on its head.

RFU CEO Bill Sweeney has also said that the Marriott hotel adjoining the stadium could be used to accommodate doctors and nurses, and the north car park for drive through testing.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: The England legend has been answering all of your questions, ranging from the serious to the funny, on subjects such sport obsession and how to drop players.

French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte - who wants to run World Rugby alongside Bill Beaumont and hopes to be elected as vice-chairman next month - has proposed the competition.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: These are difficult times for all sports but I believe such moments create a time for organisations to demonstrate they are in touch with the world around them.

England face a packed autumn of Tests at home and abroad after RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney confirmed post-coronavirus plans. 

Jonny May represented Gloucester between 2009 and 2017 and will make a homecoming return to the club from July 1 as he has announced he will leave Leicester Tigers at the end of the current season.

In a Bristol team which contains Charles Piutau and Steven Luatua and will soon add Kyle Sinckler and Semi Radradra, it takes a lot to be described as one of the Bears' 'signings of the season.'

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY NIK SIMON: World Rugby has found itself at a revolutionary crossroads after Agustin Pichot launched a late bid to challenge Bill Beaumont in the presidential elections.

Multi-million pound losses are expected among the Home Nations if the autumn internationals cannot go ahead due to coronavirus - which could send rugby into financial meltdown.

Bill Beaumont or Agustin Pichot, the rivals standing next month to lead World Rugby, must be shocked into a drastic overhaul of the game following the coronavirus pandemic. 

Steve Borthwick will become Leicester's new head coach on July 1, as current boss Geordan Murphy moves to become director of rugby. 

EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS FOY: Vunipola is glad Jones will continue to provoke trepidation and inspiration among players because he believes the Australian can lead them to World Cup glory.

The Scottish Rugby Union this week proposed reductions ranging from 10 to 25 per cent over a five-month period for all players earning more than £50,000 in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Exeter coach Rob Baxter could finish the season with a new-look team if the Premiership resumes in summer. Standard contracts run until June 30, when many players will transfer to new clubs.

EXCLUSIVE BY WILL KELLEHER AND NIK SIMON: The Premiership' s £7million salary cap could be reduced to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Picked as a Six Nations 'apprentice' in January, complete with the customary asterisk to mark his status, Alex Mitchell is Eddie Jones' latest England project.

JACK NOWELL: The England international has remained busy building lego sets, taking on a pro gamer and keeping himself fit and healthy in week five of his lockdown due to coronavirus.

EXCLUSIVE BY NIK SIMON: Sir Bill Beaumont says he 'still alive and kicking' as he revealed his manifesto to be re-elected as World Rugby chairman after Sir Clive Woodward backed Agustin Pichot.

EXCLUSIVE BY NIK SIMON: Sir Bill Beaumont's attempt to win re-election as World Rugby chairman has been thrown into further chaos after the governing body received a damning letter.

Sir Bill Beaumont's campaign to be re-elected as World Rugby chairman was on a knife-edge on Tuesday night, after one of his leading supporters was dramatically ousted by the Fijian Rugby Union.

Ben Foden is supposed to be taking part in his second and final season of Major League Rugby on behalf of New York. However the season has been suspended due to the coronavirus.