Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Premiership Rugby announces five players tested positive for coronavirus hours before league restarts

Harlequins vs Sale Sharks is set to get under way at 7.45pm on Friday evening

Alex Pattle
Friday 14 August 2020 17:26 BST
Comments
Beno Obano and Maro Itoje discuss their upbringing in rugby

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Premiership Rugby has announced seven positive coronavirus test results just hours before the league’s restart this evening.

Of the seven people to return positive test results, five were players.

A statement from the league read: “Premiership Rugby can today confirm that on Wednesday 12 August, 956 players and club staff were tested as part of the PCR Covid-19 screening programme.

“Of these, seven people have tested positive, from six different clubs. Of those seven, five are players and two are members of staff.

“Those who have tested positive and their close contacts will now isolate and be assessed in line with the PHE-agreed guidelines.

“Premiership Rugby and the RFU are providing this aggregated information for competition integrity and transparency.

“No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided. The number of positive results will be made public after each round of testing.”

The league is set to get back under way with Harlequins versus Sale Sharks at 7.45pm BST this evening.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in