England 's Six Nations preparations have taken a blow after France announced a new rule requiring all sports stars to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter the country.
President Emmanuel Macron said all athletes will need to be double-jabbed if they want to travel to France from January 15 as the country changes its travel rules.
It is a departure from the current rule, which also gives sportspeople the option to obtain a Covid passport through a negative test.
That new rule has implications for England's final Six Nations game against France, which is due to take place in Paris on March 19.
This change suggests Eddie Jones may not be able to call upon any players who have not had both doses of the vaccine for that trip across the Channel.
A spokesperson for the French sports ministry told MailOnline a decision would be made 'within days' on how the new rules will affect non-French teams who must travel to the country for matches or competitions.
It is unknown how many England players in with a chance of making the cut for Jones' Six Nations squad are fully vaccinated.
Centre Henry Slade, who is diabetic, has said in the past he would not be getting the jab after having bad reactions to previous vaccines.
Responding to the announcement, a spokesperson for the RFU said: "We will always follow government travel advice and we will continue to monitor the situation in relation to England's Six Nations game in France."
Also likely to be affected are Chelsea, who are set to travel to Lille in February for the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash.
Manager Thomas Tuchel has had both doses of his vaccine, but has previously said that he would not force his players to follow suit.
"You know that it's causing an issue, but it's not that we have all unvaccinated infected," the German told reporters.
"We have vaccinated players who are positive. I don't want to get involved in pointing fingers and starting the hunt for non‑vaccinated people. This is a choice to make.
"We cannot force people to get vaccinated. I will not change my opinion on that. And I am not the guy to comment on that. There are experts in this country, all over Europe. Ask them and ask me please about football."
