Antoine Dupont, Mohammed Haouas and winger Gabin Villiere were ruled out after testing positive on Friday; French rugby federation said further tests carried out on Saturday showed Julien Marchand and centre Arthur Vincent also tested positive for the virus
Sunday 21 February 2021 14:37, UK
Star scrum-half Antoine Dupont and four other first-team players who tested positive for COVID-19 are out of France's squad for next Sunday's Six Nations match against Scotland.
The French rugby federation said Sunday that further tests carried out on Saturday showed that prop Julien Marchand and centre Arthur Vincent also tested positive for the virus.
Dupont, prop Mohammed Haouas, winger Gabin Villiere and lineout coach Karim Ghezal tested positive after their tests on Friday.
All five players started last Sunday's 15-13 win against Ireland in Dublin and have to observe a minimum period of seven days in isolation. Coach Fabien Galthie also tested positive after that game.
Two other squad players, lock Swann Rebbadj and prop Jean-Baptiste Gros, were left out after being considered to have been in contact with two team-mates from club side Toulon who tested positive.
The seven replacements called up to the 31-man squad on Sunday are props Hassane Kolingar and Dorian Aldegheri, hooker Teddy Baubigny, uncapped scrum-half Maxime Lucu, centres Jonathan Danty and Yoram Moefana, and uncapped winger Donovan Taofifenua.
France, who finished second behind England in last year's Six Nations, are looking for a third straight win of this campaign when they host Scotland at Stade de France.
Les Bleus opened with a resounding 50-10 win in Italy, with Dupont among the try scorers in Rome.
Scotland secured an impressive 11-6 win away to England and were then edged out 25-24 at home to Wales, despite leading 17-8 at the break.
