Rugby-Two France players and coach test positive for COVID-19

France are scheduled to play Scotland in the Six Nations at the Stade de France on Feb. 28. Health minister Olivier Veran announced on Thursday that anyone testing positive for COVID-19 would need to isolate for 10 days, instead of seven previously, as France looks to contain the emergence of a variant that first appeared in Britain.


Reuters | Updated: 21-02-2021 00:01 IST | Created: 20-02-2021 23:38 IST
Rugby-Two France players and coach test positive for COVID-19
Representative image Image Credit: pixabay

France wing Gabin Villiere, prop Mohamed Haouas and assistant coach Karim Ghezal have tested positive for COVID-19, the French federation (FFR) said on Saturday, taking the tally of infections within the set-up to seven.

Scrumhalf Antoine Dupont had tested positive on Friday, days after head coach Fabien Galthie, forwards coach William Servat and another staff member returned positive tests. The FFR said that of the 32 tests conducted on players on Friday, 29 had come back negative.

All the members of the squad will be tested again on Sunday. France are scheduled to play Scotland in the Six Nations at the Stade de France on Feb. 28.

Health minister Olivier Veran announced on Thursday that anyone testing positive for COVID-19 would need to isolate for 10 days, instead of seven previously, as France looks to contain the emergence of a variant that first appeared in Britain. The FFR has been investigating a possible contamination from the rugby sevens team, who had been taking part in training sessions, but concluded that it could not be proven yet that they were the source of the contamination.

The FFR also ruled that none of the members of the squad could be considered a close contact of the rugby sevens player who tested positive. The FFR said a new squad list of 31 players would be announced on Sunday.

Les Bleus lead the Six Nations standings with two wins from two games. They have not won the championship since 2010, the year of their last Grand Slam.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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