Rugby's Nations Cup under threat after reports Fiji players have Covid

Organisers of rugby's Autumn Nations Cup are working desperately to save fixtures after members of the Fiji squad tested positive for Covid-19.

Rugby Pass reported that between five and seven Fiji players tested positive at their training base in France where they will be for the next two weeks.

Coach Vern Cotter, assistant coach Glen Jackson and seven players of the squad were involved in the Barbarians match preparations to face England which saw the game cancelled after 13 players left the team "bubble"

Those players were awaiting a hearing with possible bans and fines likely, but the seven Fiji players were said to have followed protocols.

It had not been revealed if any of the seven had been involved in the positive tests, but in a statement the Nations Cup organisers said the testing group had been notified of positive cases in the squad and they were waiting on further tests to clarify the situation.

They were working closely with the Fiji Rugby Union and French Rugby authorities to identify how many players had tested positive for Covid-19.

Fiji was scheduled to play Portugal in a warm-up game on 6 November, but this had since been been called off.

Their first match is against France on 15 November followed by Italy on 21 November before travelling to Murrayfield to play Scotland on 28 November.

Fiji Rugby CEO, John O'Connor, was expected to issue a statement about the positive tests shortly.