France under investigation after Covid blunder
NEWS: France’s participation in the Six Nations hangs in the balance as French rugby federation’s president Bernard Laporte has been ordered to submit a report into their Covid-19 outbreak to the French government.
Sports Minister Roxane Maracineanu has demanded an official internal investigation after eleven players and the coach tested positive for the global virus.
The outbreak led to the postponement of the match against Scotland last weekend.
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The Daily Mail reported that the French government have threatened to remove their team from the remainder of the Six Nations if they are not satisfied by the FFR’s explanation.
Media reports of an alleged outing in Rome has been pinpointed as one possible source said furious Maracineanu.
“I don’t think it was written in the protocols that the players could go out to eat waffles,” Maracineanu said to the DailyMail.
“If they went out to eat waffles, they had to be re-tested when they re-entered the bubble. We want to know if this has been done.
“[President] Bernard Laporte told us that everything was going to go well and that the bubble was going to be strictly respected with controlled entries and exits.
“Now that we can see that this is not the case, I am waiting for him to come and explain to us what has happened,”
Aside from the players leaving the camp, Laporte publicly admitted that Galthie left the squad’s bubble the day after France’s opening-weekend victory over Italy in Rome.
He went to the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris to watch his 19-year-old son Mathis play a match.
“I don’t see where the problem could be. But then again, I’m not a doctor,” Laporte told television station France 3 on Sunday, insisting that he continues to have confidence in his coach.
France are next due to play England at Twickenham on March 13.
Meanwhile, in terms of the postponed match against Scotland.
The Daily Mail revealed that the Six Nations will come under pressure to award Scotland the victory after Gregor Townsend’s side remain adamant they will not agree to a new date that forces them to play with a weakened team.
At the start of the tournament, officials insisted any match impacted by Covid-19 would be rearranged.
Source: DailyMail & AAP
