The French sports minister has confirmed that Ireland's final Six Nations match against France in Paris this Saturday has been postponed.

Roxana Maracineanu, who has been Minister of Youth and Sport since September 2018, did not specify the new date for the game, nor whether the other final Six Nations matches had also been postponed.

"The Six Nations match between France and Ireland will be postponed in agreement with the French Rugby Federation and tournament organisers," she said during a press conference on the impact of the coronavirus on sporting fixtures in France.

The Six Nations subsequently confirmed that the fixture is off but are awaiting word on the fate of Women's and Under-20s fixtures between France and Ireland which are due to take place on the weekend of 13 to 15 March.

"Following instructions received from the authorities in France, the decision has been made to postpone the Round 5 Guinness Six Nations match between France and Ireland," the tournament organisers said in a statement.

"We are still awaiting confirmation for the Women's and U20s fixtures."

However, they have not confirmed future dates for rescheduled games, adding: "Six Nations and its constituent Unions and federations will work closely to identify dates on which all postponed matches will take place.

"No immediate announcement will be made on rescheduling as we will need to discuss with all relevant stakeholders and assess the evolution of the situation."

Earlier reports in the French media had claimed that a decision had been made to reschedule all of the final round of matches for 31 October.

French rugby outlet Midi Olympique reported a postponement of the match had been confirmed following a conference call between the six unions, as well all other games on the final day of this year's Six Nations Championship.

Earlier, Six Nations organisers had informed RTÉ Sport that a final decision had not been confirmed over the 14 March fixture, ahead of meetings on Monday afternoon at governmental level over the matter.

On Sunday, in light of increased cases of COVID-19, French health minister Olivier Veran had announced that all gatherings of more than 1,000 people are now prohibited in the country, which had renewed doubts about whether the fixture slated for 14 March would go ahead.

Two days earlier on Friday, the French Rugby Federation had announced that the match, as well as the corresponding fixtures this weekend involving the Women's and Under-20s teams, would go ahead.

Ireland's match against Italy, which was due to take place on Saturday 7 March, had been postponed, while the upcoming 14 March fixture between the Azzurri and England was also called off in advance.

However, the men's and Under-20s games between Wales and Scotland will go ahead, although the Women's fixture will not be played after a Scottish player tested positive for Covid-19 and with a further seven members of the Scotland camp self-isolating.