Scots push for go-ahead for France Six Nations showdown

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 tomorrow evening as uncertainty continues to swirl around the fixture.

Reports last night said an eleventh France player, Baptiste Pesenti, had tested positive for coronavirus. The forward was only called into the squad yesterday as a replacement.

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

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 weeks which would raise concerns from a player welfare perspective.

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

It was announced earlier yesterday 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 Pesenti’s unconfirmed positive 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.”

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.the TOG was advised