London Irish have suffered a Covid-19 scare ahead of their final match of the Gallagher Premiership season away to Bristol Bears on Saturday putting the game at risk, Bristol Live can confirm.
A small number of the Exiles squad were found to be positive for the virus after lateral flow tests and as a result, the club have arranged secondary PCR tests immediately to verify the results and check the extent of their outbreak.
Depending on the results the Round 22 match could be cancelled with contract-tracing potentially wiping out a large portion of the away side's squad.
More than 6,000 fans are due to attend the game at Ashton Gate as Bristol look to secure top spot in the table having led the way since January.
If Premiership Rugby do decide to cancel the game on the advice of Public Health England, Bristol will almost certainly be awarded four match points from the contest, with Irish getting two as per the rules of the competition.
The four points will be enough to see Pat Lam's side finish top of the table ahead of Exeter Chiefs, setting up a home semi-final next weekend against Harlequins.
Bristol will be desperate to take no risks of contracting the virus having long since secured their place in the play-offs, as teams have been told by Premiership Rugby they will forfeit their place in the play-offs should they not be able to fulfill the ficture due to Covid.
Round 22 of the Premiership has already lost a game between Worcester Warriors and Gloucester Rugby due to a large-scale Covid outbreak in the Cherry and Whites camp last week which also saw them pull out of the West Country derby against Bath the previous week..
Unfortunately due to the late timing of these positive tests, Bristol Live understands it is unlikely a ruling will be made this evening over whether the game can proceed, and in fact it might be as late as 11am on Saturday morning that a final decision is made leaving fans and players in limbo.
Get all the latest on the situation as it unfolds here on our live blog.
