Bristol Bears’ superstar centre Semi Radradra has been ruled out of his nation’s opening game of the Autumn Nations Cup after testing positive for Covid-19.
Radradra overcame a hamstring injury, sustained in Bristol’s Challenge Cup final triumph, which was expected to keep him out of international action for much of the Autumn and instead met up with the Flying Fijians national side at the end of last week.
When he arrived at their base in France on Friday the 28-year-old was tested for Covid-19 and returned a positive sample.
According to sources within the Fiji camp he isn’t suffering from any of the symptoms associated with the virus.
After a stunning 12 months, which saw former league star Radradra take the 2019 Rugby World Cup by storm before returning to club rugby to star with first Bordeaux-Begles and then Bristol Bears to make the shortlist for European Player of the Year, the explosive back has been named Fijian captain despite having just 10 international caps in union.
Radradra's positive test has been confirmed by his agent George Christodoulou.
Fijian rugby chief executive John O’Connor said: “As part of the COVID-19 tournament protocols, the player has been isolated and is being monitored by our medical team."
The entire Fiji team has undergone a final round of testing and is awaiting results before they play France at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes on Sunday, 3-15pm KO.
The match won’t be broadcast live on any terrestrial TV channels in the UK, but you can still watch full coverage of the game on Amazon Prime Video and stream it via your TV.
