The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Scotland’s Six Nations trip to Paris in doubt
Scotland will have to wait until tomorrow to learn if their Guinness Six Nations rugby clash in Paris will go ahead after France confirmed another five players have tested positive for coronavirus.
Les Bleus are due to host Gregor Townsend’s team at the Stade de France on Sunday but the game has been thrown into doubt after an outbreak among Fabien Galthie’s squad.
The latest test results mean captain Charles Ollivon has been ruled out along with Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Romain Taofifenua and Brice Dulin.
The French Rugby Federation (FFR) confirmed that two members of their management team are also suspected cases.
Head coach Galthie and star scrum-half Antoine Dupont are already among those in self-isolation.
Now Six Nations chiefs say they plan to meet again tomorrow night to decide if the game can go ahead.
The Six Nations said in a statement: “Should the decision be that the fixture cannot go ahead, the match will be rescheduled for the earliest possible date”.
Gaetan Balot, Thierry Paiva, Cyril Cazeaux, Baptiste Pesenti and Thomas Ramos have now been called into a new-look 31-man France squad.
The FFR revealed on Sunday that centre Arthur Vincent and hooker Julien Marchand had tested positive for coronavirus, joining Dupont, Gabin Villiere and Mohamed Haouas in isolation.
Galthie and his assistant William Servat also tested positive earlier this week and have been placed in quarantine.
France are top of the championship after two rounds of fixtures, having opened their campaign with wins against Italy and Ireland.
An FFR statement said: “The return to collective training is set for Wednesday February 24, subject to the results of tests.
“The tests will be carried out every 24 hours.”
Meanwhile, the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France has been extended by one week to allow all teams at least five days preparation before pool matches.
Player squad sizes will also increase from 31 to 33, with the decisions designed to improve player-welfare standards.
World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “This is a landmark day for Rugby World Cup and the sport.
“As a rugby father, former player, supporter and administrator, player welfare is and has always been at the very top of my agenda.
“This continued focus for a player-first decision totally reflects that commitment.
“Men’s Rugby World Cup schedules are difficult to balance owing to the format of four pools of five teams.
“Japan 2019 provided the best balance and best-ever welfare outcomes, but we
still had a limited number of relatively short rest periods between some matches.
“In collaboration with France 2023 and International Rugby Players, this decision means that every player and every team will have a fairer chance to perform to their potential in every fixture, and now we will work with the teams to reduce overall load for players. Including travel.”
Emerging nations have often been punished at past World Cups with less recovery time between games.
But the pool phase will now be extended by a week to accommodate the additional rest day requirement. The full schedule will be announced on Friday.
The 10th edition of the tournament will kick off on September 8 2023 and conclude with the final on October 28.
Former Ireland captain Brian O’driscoll, the International Rugby
Players representative on the Rugby World Cup Board, said: “The game has become too physical and competitive for short turnarounds.
“All teams have found it tough, particularly those without the squad depth of the major nations.
“This is a positive step forward for the game and further demonstration of how International Rugby Players and World Rugby can work together towards better outcomes for the players.”
World Rugby reported its best player-welfare outcomes at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Injury replacements reduced from 2.08 per match in 2015 to 1.13 in 2019.
And there was a 28% overall concussion incidence decrease compared to the 2018 elite competition average.
There was also a 37% reduction in tackle concussion incidence compared to the 2018 elite competition average.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits his team drive him round the bend with their “tippy-tappy football”.
The Scottish Premiership champions saw their hold on the title slip further out of their grasp after a 1-0 defeat by Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday night.
Rangers are now just seven points away from ending Celtic’s nine-year monopoly and the result in the Highlands heightened the prospect of them doing so at Parkhead on March 21.
Celtic had about three-quarters of the possession at the Global Energy Stadium and 20 shots at goal, but only four efforts were on target.
The absence of a clinical edge frustrated Lennon who implored his players to hit the target and move the ball quickly.
They paid the price for some bad misses – Ryan Christie put the ball out of the stadium from seven yards away from goal – while Jordan White scored with a free header from a set-piece.
After falling 18 points behind Rangers, Lennon said: “There are no excuses. It’s not Covid, it’s not a shutdown, it’s not losing players.
“There’s a couple of injuries here and there but in the main we should have been more comfortable, especially with the run we have been on. Confidence was good.
“But we revert back to playing tippy-tappy football at times. It drives me nuts.
“I’m sure we’ll get heavily criticised. Whether it’s right or wrong after this performance, it doesn’t matter, it’s the nature of the beast.”
● Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has warned Jack Simpson he will have to remain patient as the new signing eyes up a place in the Ibrox line-up.
The 24-year-old was finally handed his Gers debut on Sunday three weeks on from making his deadline day move from Bournemouth.
He was given the final 23 minutes as the runaway leaders strolled to a 4-1 win over Dundee United.
And having sampled his first taste of action in a blue jersey, centre-back Simpson admits he is desperate for more.
But with Rangers potentially just three wins from being crowned champions for the first time in 10 years, Gerrard admits he cannot now turn his back on the defenders who have taken the Light Blues this far.
“We will have to see (if Jack will be more involved in the remaining weeks) as we have got the luxury of having centre-backs who have performed ever so well over the season,” said the Rangers manager.
“We got Jack in early, which was a bonus really and we didn’t expect to get him in so early.
“There was no rush or panic or we don’t need to be forceful to get him in.
“Sunday’s game presented an opportunity to get him moving. He has been patient and waited for his debut and if we need to use him we will use him.
“He has to keep fighting for more performances from now until the end of the season and I am sure he will get them.
“It is very difficult to say to players ‘you are not playing today’ when they have been performing ever so well and keeping a lot of clean sheets, and we have put ourselves in this position in the league and Europe with other players.
“I am not saying I prefer those players, but they deserve to play and deserve the shirt and Jack needs to keep pushing and be patient and wait for his moments to come.”
Simpson told Rangerstv: “I am delighted to have made my debut and the most important thing is three points.
“But, especially from the back four and goalkeeper’s point of view, we are disappointed to concede a sloppy goal towards the end there as clean sheets mean a lot to us with the standards we set here.
“So I am pleased, but also a little disappointed.”