CHAOS AS SCOTLAND V FRANCE IS OFF

THE Six Nations finale could descend into chaos after France’s game against Scotland was postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak. Organisers were last night scrambling to reschedule the Paris fixture, but they were faced with difficulties over players being released from their clubs. Sunday’s game was deemed unsafe to play as scheduled after an 11th player in the French squad tested positive for the virus. The ideal solution is to reschedule the fixture for next weekend and thereby maintain the integrity of the closing rounds of the competition.

However, reports in France claim the fixture could be delayed until as late as July, meaning the tournament winner would not be known until the summer. Scotland would be forced to field a significantly weakened team next week because of player availability. Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are all scheduled to return to their clubs and would miss out on the crunch fixture in Paris. Scotland remain in title contention following their victory over England, and head coach Gregor Townsend said: ‘It is disappointing not to be able to play this fixture on Sunday. We have had a good week with our players, who were focused and ready to represent their country in Paris and continue our progress in this year’s Guinness Six Nations. ‘Throughout this tournament, and the previous Autumn Nations Cup, we have worked hard to maintain strict Covid protocols which have enabled us to select our strongest possible teams for these important international fixtures. ‘We will wait to see what options are available to play this match, but we want to have all our eligible players available to us for that fixture.’