Italy v Wales Women’s Six Nations Clash Rescheduled After Pope Francis’s Death

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The Women’s Six Nations fixture between Italy and Wales, originally slated for Saturday, April 26, in Parma, has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 27, following the death of Pope Francis. The match will now kick off at 12:15 p.m. UK time at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, with tournament organizers moving the game in line with a nationwide suspension of sporting events on Saturday to honor the late pontiff.

The Italian government declared five days of national mourning ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral, which is set for Saturday morning in Rome. In response, Italy’s National Olympic Committee called for all sporting events to be postponed on the day of the funeral. The Six Nations, Italian Rugby Federation, and Welsh Rugby Union jointly stated, “Following the recent and sad passing of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, Six Nations Rugby, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are unified in respecting the invite from the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò, for National Sport’s Federations, the Associated Sports Disciplines and the Sports Promotion Bodies in Italy to suspend all sporting events in the country on Saturday 26th April 2025, in conjunction with the funeral of the Holy Father Pope Francis”.

A minute’s silence will be observed ahead of the rescheduled fixture as a mark of respect. Tickets purchased for the original date remain valid, and fans are encouraged to contact the Italian Rugby Federation for any inquiries or refund requests.

The rescheduling affects the final round of this year’s Women’s Six Nations, with Italy currently fourth and Wales sixth in the standings. Other matches, including Scotland versus Ireland and the Grand Slam decider between England and France, will go ahead as planned on Saturday.

Serie A has also postponed its Saturday fixtures to Sunday in observance of the national mourning period.

Wales vice-captain Ira Be commented before the postponement, “There’s nothing we can do right now except prepare as if the game is going ahead this weekend. We can’t think about whether it’s on or not or get caught up in that. We’re preparing as normal”