French clubs La Rochelle, Toulouse and Lyon have each been handed a 28-0 victory and five match points in the second round of the Heineken Champions Cup after their games were called off due to Covid-19, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has confirmed.
La Rochelle, who are coached by former Ireland and Munster out-half Ronan O'Gara, had their game against Bath, which was scheduled for Saturday, called off after the English side were unable to field a team with 12 of their players isolating following a positive Covid-19 test at Scarlets, who they played last weekend.
Defending champions Exeter Chiefs' game against Toulouse on Sunday was cancelled after a number of Exeter players and staff tested positive for Covid-19 and were unavailable to travel to France for the match.
The positive tests at Exeter also had a knock-on effect with Glasgow Warriors' match against Lyon on Saturday also being cancelled after the Scottish side's players went into self-isolation following their match against Exeter over the weekend.
"EPCR would like to emphasise that blame was not considered as a factor during the deliberations, and the committee's decisions were made with a view to facilitating the completion of this season’s Heineken Champions Cup in unprecedented circumstances," EPCR said in a statement.
Earlier, Toulon pulled out of Friday's Champions Cup game against Welsh side Scarlets due to safety concerns over a Scarlets player testing positive for Covid-19.
