Five France players test positive for coronavirus, taking total number of cases in squad to 10; Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Romain Taofifenua, Charles Ollivon and Brice Dulin all returned positive tests in Sunday's testing
Monday 22 February 2021 16:10, UK
Five France players have tested positive for coronavirus - taking the total to 10 - ahead of Sunday's Six Nations clash with Scotland.
Captain Charles Ollivon, Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Romain Taofifenua and Brice Dulin all returned positive tests in the round of testing undertaken on Sunday.
All five have been sent home to self-isolate and France have called up five players to replace them for the next Six Nations game, against Scotland on Sunday.
Uncapped trio Gaëtan Barlot (Castres), Thierry Paiva and Cyril Cazeaux (both Bordeaux Bègles) join Baptiste Pesenti (Section Paloise) and Thomas Ramos (Stade Toulouse) in joining the squad on Monday.
Ollivon, Baille and Dulin started the 15-13 win over Ireland last weekend, while Mauvaka come on as a replacement in the 70th minute.
The Scotland squad are preparing as normal for Sunday's game and are due to fly to Paris on Friday.
The SRU is unaware of any discussions about a possible postponement, and will not comment at this time on the situation surrounding the French team.
Any decision on a postponement would be made by the Six Nations organiser, but the SRU expects that, as a stakeholder in the game, it would be consulted before any decision is finalised.
Les Bleus, 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.
They 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.
