The Six Nations championship game between Wales and Ireland in Cardiff next Saturday is still set to take place despite the worsening foot-and-mouth crisis in Britain.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Agriculture last night confirmed it had received no veterinary advice to cancel the game. However, Irish rugby supporters are likely to face stringent checks and be obliged to use disinfectant foot baths.
The possibility of the Department of Agriculture asking the Irish Rugby Football Union not to travel to Wales has not been ruled out.
Mr Robert Lawson, director of communications at the British Ministry of Agriculture, said: "There is a much bigger risk of carrying the infectious agent through animals . . . The risk that might arise as a result of people travelling from Dublin to a rugby match in Cardiff is much smaller."
Ultimately the decision rests with the ministry, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture. The Welsh and Irish Rugby Football Unions will take their cue from them. If the Department of Agriculture asked the IRFU not to travel to Wales, it would force the cancellation of the game, although a decision would probably have to be made today as the squad is due to leave Dublin tomorrow.
A Department of Agriculture spokesman said the Department may make a statement in the next 48 hours.
The IRFU has sold its allocation of 4,800 tickets for Saturday's game, but it estimates that up to 10,000 people could travel to Cardiff.
Were the match to be cancelled, there are no contingency plans in place for a rearrangement, which would be extremely difficult in an increasingly crowded rugby season. A possibility is that the game would be rearranged for next autumn.
A cloud must also hang over the Ireland-England game in Lansdowne Road in four weeks, given that up to 25,000 English supporters are expected to travel.
