Toulouse hard hit by Covid-19
This Thursday evening, international scrum half Antoine Dupont did not wish to confirm his positivity for Covid-19, giving his club Stade Toulousain the leisure to communicate or not on the health situation of his workforce. But the player would indeed have been contaminated by the Coronavirus for the second time in a year, which would prevent him from holding his place against Cardiff, this Saturday, in the European Cup, and probably also from honoring his presence the start of the gathering of the French team in Aubagne, next week, to prepare for the next Six Nations Tournament.
A cluster that fails
Dupont would not be the only player from the red and black club affected. Several players or staff members are affected, including other internationals (Baille? Ntamack?). They were half a dozen at the start of the week, which had led the staff to suspend midweek training to prevent the epidemic from spreading even more, and they would be even more this Thursday evening after the results of the tests taken in the morning.
The intrusion of the scourge into the workforce falls very badly. Currently 7th in their group, Stade Toulousain will certainly need a victory on Saturday to ensure their qualification for the round of 16 of the continental event. And no one knows yet which players he will be able to field. One thing seems certain: Thomas Ramos, Julien Marchand and Thibaud Flament, all scheduled for the press conference this Friday morning, seem able to hold their place. This will reassure coach Fabien Galthié a little.