France vs Fiji in the Autumn Nations Cup is OFF after five players were diagnosed with Covid-19

France‘s opening Autumn Nations Cup fixture against Fiji has been cancelled after an outbreak of coronavirus in the Oceania nation’s squad. 

Fiji reported a positive case for coronavirus on Tuesday, but it was announced on Friday that another four players had been diagnosed with the virus with many players affected by the decision.

The match was supposed to take place on Monday but the outbreak of the virus means the fixture cannot happen, nor can it be rearranged due to the tight schedule of the new autumn tournament.  

An outbreak of Covid-19 in the Fiji squad means their Autumn Nations Cup tie with France is off

A meeting will take place on Monday to determine how the match will be decided. 

Six Nations CEO Ben Morel said in a statement: ‘This was a difficult and disappointing decision, but it was the only possible outcome following today’s test results. 

‘Whilst we’ve all been eagerly awaiting this match, the welfare of our players and their support teams remain our number one priority.

France’s opening match of the competition will not take place as it cannot be rearranged

‘We have a rigorous testing programme in place. In this instance, it is impossible for the Fijians to field a competitive team and we have no other option but to cancel this match. 

‘I want to thank the Fijian and French Unions for their collaboration and wish the impacted athletes a speedy recovery.’

The tournament also revealed that a further set of tests will be made before Fiji’s next match against Italy on November 21. 

The cancellation comes as a blow to the new tournament, which was introduced in this coronavirus impacted year to replace the usual autumn internationals.

The opening game of the tournament will take place on Friday night between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.  

More to follow.