France head coach Fabien Galthié tests positive for Covid-19

France’s pursuit of the Six Nations grand slam has been severely disrupted after their head coach, Fabien Galthié, tested positive for Covid-19 and the entire squad was put into isolation. All players will be retested on Wednesday amid fears that France’s next match against Scotland on Sunday week could be thrown into doubt if a further outbreak is detected.

Galthié was retested on Tuesday after his initial result was inconclusive while the playing squad had already been told to isolate after a member of the backroom staff tested positive. The Six Nations organisers will be desperately hoping the spread of infection has been contained and though it is fortunate it has occurred during a rest week, they will be anxiously awaiting the fresh set of results.

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Even if the players test negative, they must begin preparations to face Scotland without Galthié, who along with the unnamed member of staff, must isolate for seven days. “In accordance with the health protocol in force, the two members of the management whose isolation began [on Monday] evening, will continue to isolate themselves for seven days,” read a statement from the French federation. “Their activities will continue to be carried out remotely. To date, no symptoms have been observed”.

All of the France squad tested negative on Monday and if they do so again on Wednesday at their Marcoussis training base they will be allowed home in accordance with rest week protocols. They will also be tested again on Friday and Sunday in an effort to ensure the Scotland fixture can go ahead.

France are top of the Six Nations table after victories over Italy and Ireland in their opening two matches and are due to name a squad to prepare to face Scotland on Wednesday. The positive test and the need for the entire squad to isolate again demonstrates the precariousness of the Six Nations championship with the French government expressing considerable concerns in the buildup to the tournament before finally granting Les Bleus permission to take part, as well as travel exemption for UK countries due to play in Paris later in the competition. Ireland released a statement saying they had no positives from Monday’s tests, having played France on Sunday.

The outbreak within the France camp is the first to occur since the start of the Six Nations but England’s buildup was disrupted when the assistant coach Matt Proudfoot tested positive for Covid, meaning Eddie Jones had to isolate and miss the start of his side’s preparation camp. Jones said that hampered England’s start to the competition and believes France could be similarly affected.

“Certainly [Fabien] not being with the team may have a negative effect,” he said. “I don’t know what his support staff is like, how they could step in. For us, it was a little bit different because we hadn’t come together. I always felt like I was catching up, I came into camp late, I was trying to catch up to where we needed to be. We and I probably didn’t handle it well.”

Meanwhile, Jones has backed Jack Willis to bounce back from his latest long-term layoff following a sickening knee injury sustained against Italy last weekend. Wasps have revealed Willis will see a specialist and Jones confirmed Willis has damaged his MCL and will require surgery, effectively ending his season.

“There’s no reason why Jack can’t come back bigger and better than he is now,” he said. “He’s just starting his career and all his best rugby is ahead of him.”