Ireland are in the clear with their Covid-19 scare ahead of Sunday’s (NZ time) test match against the All Blacks in Dublin.
The Irish Rugby Football Union had released a statement on the eve of the match announcing that an unnamed player had reported a “potential positive case” of coronavirus.
It said further testing was being undertaken to determine whether the result was a false positive, while members of the squad and management team were undergoing additional lateral flow and PCR testing.
And, in a subsequent statement later on Saturday morning (NZT), the IRFU confirmed the player in question had now returned two negative results on PCR tests at two separate labs.
The player and an identified close contact had both immediately isolated from the rest of the group when the issue arose, but have now been cleared by public health and tournament organisers to take their places in the matchday squad.
Ireland defence coach Simon Easterby had earlier said back-up players had been put on standby, but the hosts will now line up as per programme for the test at Aviva Stadium.
England prop Ellis Genge has been ruled out of Sunday’s (NZT) clash against the Wallabies after recording a positive test.
It comes after England captain Owen Farrell was pulled from the side to face Tonga last week following a test result that was eventually proven to be a false positive.
While Easterby had said there was no danger of the Ireland-All Blacks match being called off, he had, prior to the negative tests, labelled the Covid scare a disruption.
“If it wasn’t challenging already, it gets more challenging when you deal with certain things that are outside your control,” he said
