France head coach Fabien Galthie has been cleared of any wrongdoing amid the Covid-19 outbreak that has sent their Six Nations campaign spiralling into chaos.
And reports in the French media claim that a France Sevens player, who had trained with Galthie's side, has been identified as 'patient zero'.
As a result of the outbreak, which happened after France's victory over Ireland in round two, 12 players and five members of staff, including head coach Galthie, have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks.
It led to the postponement of Les Blues' clash with Scotland last weekend and tournament organisers are now scrambling to secure a new date to play the fixture, most recently mooted as being March 26, a week after the Six Nations' scheduled conclusion. You can read about that new tournament finale here.
Galthie was thrown into the spotlight when it emerged he left the bubble to watch his son play in the aftermath of France's opening round victory over Italy.
And the behaviour of several players was brought into question after it came to light that they left their hotel to get waffles in Rome.
However, an internal investigation, commissioned by French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu - who threatened to withdraw France's authorisation to play in the Six Nations - has found that Galthie did nothing wrong.
"In my report, I mention it at the start, it is perfectly clear that what he has done and whatever one might think, he had the right to do what he did, and there was no particular risk," Roger Salamon, head of the FFR's medical committee, told French radio RTL.
The report is not being made public, but French Rugby president Bernard Laporte has also previously admitted that Galthie left the bubble, but insisted he was wearing a mask and did not break the team's Covid protocols.
It remains to be seen how Maracineanu will react to the investigation, but France are scheduled to travel to England next weekend and welcome Wales on March 20.
