England suffers COVID blow
NEWS: The England preparations for this Saturday's Six Nations game against Ireland at Twickenham have suffered another COVID blow.
Assistant coach Richard Cockerill has tested positive for COVID and will now be absent from the match due to the need to go into isolation.
It was last Friday when back row forward Alex Dombrandt tested positive and it was only at Thursday's training that he could rejoin the squad on the pitch, a situation that fed into him only making the bench this weekend as Sam Simmonds has instead been chosen to start at No.8.
Now, assistant coach Cockerill has been ruled out of involvement in the must-win round four match, the RFU issuing a Friday morning update about the current virus situation in the England camp.
It read: "England coach Richard Cockerill has tested positive for COVID. He returned a positive lateral flow test early on Friday morning and immediately went into isolation. A positive PCR result confirmed the result later that morning.
"All of the other England players and staff members have undergone daily lateral flow testing this morning before training, all of which have returned negative results. Cockerill will not be at England's Six Nations game against Ireland at Twickenham Stadium tomorrow [Saturday]."
Eve-of-Test virus setbacks have become a regular occurrence this season with England.
It was during the November Tests that Owen Farrell and Ellis Genge were ruled out on respective Fridays from matches in that particular series, while prop Joe Marler has had his England involvement twice curtailed by positive tests results.
It was last Sunday when the RFU confirmed the situation surrounding Dombrandt, a starter in the February wins over Italy and Wales.
"Alex Dombrandt tested positive for COVID on Friday, March 4," read a statement at the time.
"After recording a positive LFT in the morning, he immediately went into isolation and did not take part in training. A PCR test confirmed the positive result later that evening. He is expected to rejoin the squad later next week."
By Liam Heagney, RugbyPass