Sale Sharks may be forced to forfeit their final game of the Gallagher Premiership season after they recorded a 'double-figure' amount of positive Coronavirus tests.
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According to the Mail Online, Premiership Rugby are 'now scrambling to find a solution' as the race for a top four finish was set to come to a grandstand finish on Sunday.
Should Steve Diamond's side be forced to forfeit the match, it would result in an automatic 20-0 loss and hand fifth-place Bristol Bears a shot at the play-offs.
Diamond, speaking to The Guardian, on August 11th, said: "If a club is unavailable through Covid then the opposition get a 20-point win.
"I’m not anticipating that to happen but we are in Greater Manchester. If there was a lockdown here and Exeter were coming up the following week, then they couldn’t play.
Ahead of Round 22, the Premiership have said they will delay releasing the information on the latest screening results.
JOIN THE RUCK:
The Premiership’s three highest earning players in every position
Back-three:
- Charles Piutau (Bristol Bears) - £1m
- Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) - £550k
- Mike Brown (Harlequins) - £300k
Centre:
- Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) - £450k
- Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks) -£350k
- Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) - £325k
Fly-half:
- Owen Farrell (Saracens) - £750k
- Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints) - £600k
- Danny Cipriani (Gloucester) - £450k
Scrum-half:
- Faf De Klerk (Sale Sharks) - £500k
- Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) - £350k
- Danny Care (Harlequins) -£300k
Prop:
- Mako Vunipola (Saracens) - £420k
- Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears) -£350k
- Vincent Koch (Saracens) - £300k
Hooker:
- Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs) - £230k
- Jamie George (Saracens) - £200k
- Agustin Creevy (London Irish) - £180k
Lock:
- Maro Itoje (Saracens) - £875k
- Joe Launchbury (Wasps) - £420k
- Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) - £400k
Back-row:
- Steve Luatua (Bristol Bears) - £550k
- Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby) - £425k
- Sean O'Brien (London Irish) - £400k
