France v Scotland: SRU pushes for match to go ahead on Sunday

Ten France players have tested positive for coronavirus. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Scotland want their Guinness Six Nations match with France to go ahead as scheduled on Sunday as talks continue over postponing the game due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the French camp.

Organisers will make a final decision on Wednesday evening as uncertainty continues to swirl around the fixture.

Reports on Monday night said an eleventh France player, Baptiste Pesenti, had tested positive for coronavirus. The forward was only called into the squad earlier in the day as a replacement.

The match is due to take place in Paris on Sunday afternoon but if the situation continues to deteriorate the game could be pushed back.

France's Charles Ollivon attends the Captain's run training session, on November 21, 2020 on the eve of the Pool B Autumn Nations Cup international rugby union match between Scotland and France at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. (Photo by Andy Buchanan / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The following weekend is a fallow one for the Six Nations, but there are club matches scheduled which could present a challenge for Scotland in terms of having their English-based players released.

Thirteen members of the current squad play in England, including captain Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray, Chris Harris, James Lang and Sean Maitland.

Postponing the France match until the weekend of March 6-7 would also mean Scotland playing three matches in three successive weeks which would raise concerns around player welfare.

The Six Nations Testing Oversight Group (TOG) met on Monday to review the situation in France. They will reconvene on Wednesday to decide whether the match can go ahead amid concerns about the virus spreading further within the French camp.

It was announced earlier on Monday that five more France players had tested positive for the coronavirus. That took the number of players in the squad to have contracted Covid-19 to ten, with the unconfirmed case of Pesenti making it 11.

France coach Fabien Galthie has also tested positive along with members of his backroom staff.

However, the Scottish Rugby Union wants the game to go ahead. In a statement, the governing body said: “Scotland’s national team are continuing their preparations to play France in Paris on Sunday. Our players, coaches and fans hope the game can go ahead as planned in the existing tournament schedule.

“Any postponement would have an impact on the player release agreement in place with clubs, which could see more than 10 Scotland players unavailable for selection if the game is rearranged.

“We will be working closely with our Six Nations counterparts to press the case for this week’s game to go ahead, should it be medically safe to do so.”

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Six Nations organisers said in a statement: “A meeting of the Six Nations Testing Oversight Group (TOG) took place today to review the situation in France in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak in the French team.