Paris (AFP)

The French Rugby Federation (FFR) quipped Thursday on Twitter wishing "an excellent international waffle day", a barely veiled reference to the controversy around coronavirus contaminations within the France team.

Players of the XV of France were seen tasting waffles in Rome on February 5, the day before their first match of the Six Nations Tournament against Italy (50-10), in violation of the health protocol intended to protect them from the virus .

The exit of these players had been singled out while sixteen Covid-19 contaminations had ravaged the ranks of the XV of France between February 16 and 25 and caused the postponement of the France - Scotland match.

This day 3 meeting, initially scheduled for February 28, will take place on Friday (9 p.m.) at the Stade de France.

The Blues can still win the Tournament for the first time since 2010 if they register four tries and win this final meeting by 21 points.

The FFR's Twitter account accompanied its tweet with a photo of a waffle with a French flag and a "France Rugby" flag (the account name) and the Eiffel Tower in the background.

"It did not intrigue me," said the general manager of the XV of France Raphaël Ibanez, asked about this tweet Thursday during a press point.

"We are very focused on the match with the coaches. That's what counts," he added.

The Ministry of Sports, contacted by AFP, was "not happy" with this tweet.

The communications manager of the Clermont club, Vincent Duvivier, also had little taste for this tweet.

"#ToutPourLaComm. The clubs are laughing, suddenly we reinvent a duplicate as if there were not enough and the internationals will resume directly with a knockout stage of the Champions Cup! (April 2, 3 and 4, We can't wait for the world #ProfilBas day, ”he reacted on Twitter.

With the postponement of France - Scotland, the French internationals will miss the 20th day of the French championship scheduled for Saturday.

Of the sixteen contaminations that the FFR had reported were twelve players and four members of the management including coach Fabien Galthié.

The latter had been implicated for having come out of the health bubble to attend a match of his son on February 7.

Following an internal investigation, the XV of France was finally cleared by the Ministry of Sports.

© 2021 AFP