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The game of the Top 14 weekend between 1st and 3rd has been called off
By Online Editors
This Saturday's scheduled Top 14 match between La Rochelle and Racing in Paris has become the latest game in the French league to fall victim to the pandemic. The match between first and third was set to be the game of the weekend. However, a press release on Friday has confirmed the fixtures will not be going ahead as planned at the La Defence Arena.
The La Rochelle statement read: "Following the detection of a positive case for Covid-19 within the workforce and the manifestation of doubtful symptoms in two players who tested negative, it was decided jointly with the LNR to retest the entire professional team this morning (Friday).
"Pending the results, the whole squad will be placed in isolation and the team will therefore not be able to travel today for tomorrow's game. The LNR will decide on the management of the organisation of this fixture during the day."
As it stands, it is not impossible that the game will be postponed to Sunday, or even Monday provided that the results of the new tests passed by the La Rochelle players are negative.
Both clubs are due to play Heineken Champions Cup fixtures on Sunday week. La Rochelle are due to travel to Bath while Racing will host Harlequins in Paris.
La Rochelle's December fixture against the Premiership club was cancelled due to an outbreak at the English club. That resulted in the French side, coached by Ronan O'Gara, being awarded all five match points as Bath were deemed at fault for the call off.
La Rochelle, who won their other European game with a 13-8 win at Edinburgh, currently lead the way in the Top 14, sitting three points clear of Racing with Toulouse sandwiched between them in second place. They defeated Racing 9-6 when the teams met in November at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
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Latest Comments
Geez plenty of time to come right before test season starts. Dont panic mr Mannering!!!!!
Go to commentsGreat read Nick. The Reds really have been great to watch this year, and the improvement of not only the players you mention, but the squad in general has been obvious. The Reds 10/12 play making axis is a nice counterpoint to the 10/15 partnership at the Brumbies and Rebels. If Schmidt was to pick say, Lolesio, Paisami and Wright / Kellaway, would this be too many play makers? I notice in a lot of those clips Tim Ryan playing across the field in support of Vunivalu. Is this a feature of Kiss’s structure?
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