Northampton vs Leicester off due to coronavirus cases in Saints camp

Northampton’s Premiership match against Leicester on Saturday has been called off after the Saints returned positive results in the latest round of Covid-19 testing.

Premiership Rugby also said in a statement that the club’s training ground has been closed.

“The health and safety of players, management, staff and match officials is our priority,” a spokesperson for Premiership Rugby said.

“We wish those who have tested positive at Saints a speedy and safe recovery.”

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Under Premiership Rugby regulations, a panel will now convene to determine the allocation of points, but the Tigers can realistically expect to be awarded four points and Saints two, with a 0-0 scoreline declared.

It is the fifth Premiership game to be cancelled in such circumstances this season.

Northampton’s away match against London Irish last weekend was cancelled because of positive tests in the Irish camp.

In a statement, Saints said: “In this week’s round of PCR testing ahead of the east midlands derby, the club returned a number of positive tests and had further players unavailable for selection following the contact tracing process.

“In close consultation with Public Health England, the match has subsequently been called off and Saints’ training also cancelled until the next round of testing – scheduled for Monday, January 11.

“The players involved have already begun a 10-day isolation period in accordance with the guidelines set out by Public Health England.”

Saints rugby director Chris Boyd underlined the club’s sense of frustration that another game had been cancelled.

Boyd said: “We are incredibly disappointed and frustrated that we are unable to proceed with such an important fixture for the club.

“It is a big blow to have back-to-back matches cancelled, as we had hoped to pick up some momentum again following an important win on Boxing Day.

“The club has been absolutely rigorous in how we have followed the protocols laid out for us and, despite returning a number of positive tests this week, we were confident that we have more than enough of our squad still healthy and available to play the game if required.

“However, we are following the advice we have been given, which was not to play the game and to close our training facility until next week.

“While this is a bitter pill to swallow, the health and safety of the players, staff and families of everyone at both Saints and Tigers is of course paramount.”

Exeter also revealed “some” positive Covid-19 tests in camp, but their weekend clash with Bristol is still scheduled to go ahead.

Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter said there had been “a slight impact on the availability of players but not huge”.

Asked if he was confident the game will go ahead, he said: “At this stage I’m very confident, but experience has told me that every time I've said I’m confident about where the Covid scenario is within club rugby, something comes around and the opposite happens.

“When we have anything in the camp Covid-wise, we always try to organise a second round of testing, so we will do that either [on Thursday] or Friday.”

PA