Premiership statement: Sale Sharks vs Worcester Warriors

The Sale Sharks versus Worcester Warriors game scheduled for Sunday has been postponed following the outbreak of COVID-19 at the club.

16 players have tested positive for the virus.

A Premiership Rugby statement reads: "Following the announcement yesterday that there had been a number of positive tests at Sale Sharks, as part of the League's CR COVID-19 screening programme, Premiership Rugby has made the decision under Premiership Regulation 4.1 (c) to postpone the Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors fixture until Wednesday 7 October.

"This decision has been made after consultation with Sale Sharks, Worcester Warriors and Public Health England to ensure that the health and wellbeing of all players is protected whilst protecting the integrity of the competition.

Darren Childs, Chief Executive at Premiership Rugby said: "In light of the unprecedented situation facing Premiership Rugby we have been forced to postpone the match.

"Our priority is the health and well-being of everyone involved, and we won't compromise this. But as this match has such a critical bearing on deciding the Gallagher Premiership Rugby champions, we wanted to do everything we could to play it.

"The team at Premiership Rugby has been working around the clock to come up with a solution and we'd like to thank Public Health England for their co-operation.

"There are still a number of health and safety hurdles to overcome before the match can be staged on Wednesday evening. The decision is subject to: 1. An additional round of testing to be completed at Sale on Tuesday 6th October 2020. It is essential that tests are clear for any player taking part in the game and that PHE is satisfied with the results; 2. Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors will not register any new players with the RFU prior to the rescheduled game; 3. An independent audit of the track and trace processes at Sale is undertaken over the next few days before the game is played.

"Once these steps have been completed we will make a further announcement."