Global pandemic

Six Pumas players test positive for Covid-19

Players are asymptomatic and have been placed in managed isolation, the Argentina Rugby Union said in a statement Friday.

Argentina's head coach Mario Ledesma (centre) speaks to his players as he leads a training session at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on October 1, 2019, during the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup. Foto: AFP/Odd Andersen
06 September 2020

Six members of the Argentina national rugby have tested positive for Covid-19.

The players are asymptomatic and have been placed in managed isolation, the Argentina Rugby Union said in a statement Friday. It named the players as Emiliano Boffelli, Juan Cruz Mallia, Bautista Delguy, Bautista Pedemonte, Rodrigo Fernandez Criado and Lucas Bur.

“After completing a new round of ... tests in order to minimise the risk of contagion and be able to start the health bubble, the results yielded six positive cases of Covid-19 in the campus,” the statement said.

The announcement casts further doubt on whether the four-nation Rugby Championship, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, will take place this season.

Southern hemisphere rugby body Sanzaar hoped the tournament might be able to go ahead in New Zealand between November 7 and December 12.

South Africa is already considered unlikely to participate because of a lack of domestic rugby to prepare players for the test series.

– AP

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