Top 14: several cases in Castres, postponement of the match scheduled for Sunday in Montpellier

The Castres-Montpellier match, scheduled for Sunday and counting for the 3rd day of Top 14, was postponed due to several cases of Covid "within the workforce of Castres Olympique", announced Friday the National Rugby League (LNR ).

"The tests carried out this Thursday morning revealed three new positive cases for Covid-19 within the Castres workforce," then said the Tarn club in a press release.

This is the third meeting postponed to the program for the third day, after La Rochelle-Racing 92, also because of "several cases" within the professional group of Ile-de-France.

The meeting between Lyon and Bordeaux-Bègles, scheduled for Saturday, was also postponed to Monday after several members of the LOU pro group tested positive and placed in isolation.

The opening match of the championship, between the French Stadium and Bordeaux-Bègles, had also been postponed, the Parisian club being "unable to align (...) the required number of front row players "decimated by the coronavirus.

In August, around twenty cases had in fact been detected within the workforce of the Stade Français.

A disastrous start to the season

According to the protocol put in place by the NRL, a match must in principle be automatically postponed from three players positive for Covid-19 over seven rolling days.

A fortnight ago, the CO had already been forced to forfeit its quarter-final of the European Challenge, against the English Leicester, due to four cases of Covid-19 in its squad and staff (three players and one member management).

The MHR is in last place in the standings, after two defeats in front of Pau (26-23) and Racing 92 (41-17).

A disastrous start to the season for the ambitious Hérault residents, which is already putting their coach Xavier Garbajosa under pressure.

Castres, for its part, won in Agen (26-22) before losing to Stade Français (22-16).

A record that places them 10th in the Top 14.