France’s coronavirus outbreak continues to spread with centre Arthur Vincent and hooker Julien Marchand the latest to test positive.
Vincent and Marchand join star scrum-half Antoine Dupont, wing Gabin Villiere and prop Mohamed Haouas in being ruled out of Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Scotland.
Despite losing a fifth of the starting XV that toppled Ireland to Covid-19 testing, there is no doubt over the Scots’ visit to Paris after France named a revised 31-man squad for the round three clash.
But it escalates the disruption faced by the Six Nations favourites, who top the table following victories over Italy and Ireland.
The French camp is contending with nine cases of coronavirus in total, the remaining four coming in the management team including head coach Fabien Galthie and his assistant William Servat.
Of all the absentees against Scotland, Dupont will be missed most with the reigning Six Nations player of the year starting the 2021 Championship in scintillating fashion.
