England A v Scotland A cancelled after more Covid positives
General view of the Mattioli Woods Welford Road during the European Rugby Challenge Cup Semi Final match at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester. Picture date: Friday April 30, 2021.
England A v Scotland A has been called off due to further Covid-19 positive tests in the Scotland squad.
Scotland’s preparations for the match were thrown into chaos on Friday after the Scottish Rugby Union confirmed an unnamed player had tested positive, with eight others forced to self-isolate as a precaution.
They revealed their squad a day later than usual as a result, but further positives means the clash has been cancelled.
Match not rearranged
The RFU added that the game would not be rearranged.
It was meant to be the first fixture of England’s mid-year series, with Test matches scheduled at Twickenham against the USA next Sunday and Canada six days later.
England had included 11 uncapped players in their ‘A’ side, but there was also an experienced edge provided by the likes of Max Malins, Ollie Lawrence and Ellis Genge.
“We are, of course, very disappointed not to be playing this match and particularly playing in front of a great crowd in Leicester,” England head coach Eddie Jones said.
“However, we understand that the safety and wellbeing of all of our teams and supporters is the most important thing, and we wish Scotland the very best.”
The SRU said that three members of the Scotland camp had tested positive for Covid-19.
“The entire squad and management team were PCR-tested early on Thursday morning and, with no positive results returned from the playing group, the team travelled to Leicester on Friday afternoon,” an SRU statement read.
“However, following a further round of PCR testing on Saturday morning, Scottish Rugby can confirm that three positive tests for Covid-19 have been returned.
“The three members of the camp that tested positive have started self-isolation as per Scottish Government guidelines, and the Scottish Rugby medical team have since begun internal contact-tracing to determine those that are close contacts, and as such will also have to self-isolate as per Scottish Government guidelines.”
Scotland, who have a number of players on the British and Irish Lions’ South Africa tour, are due to play Romania and Georgia next month.