Scotland A lose nine players ahead of clash against England A after positive Covid-19 case

Scotland A will be without nine players for their encounter against England A after a member of their squad returned positive for Covid-19.

Eight more players have been traced as potential close contact to the positively tested player and all nine are currently isolated.

Scottish Rugby had cancelled the team's travel to Leicester on Thursday but is confident that the game will go ahead as there were no further positive cases in the latest round of testing but they have delayed the announcement of matchday squad to Saturday morning.

Five players including Ben Vellacott, Callum Hunter-Hill, George Taylor along with Glasgow duo D'Arcy Rae and Stafford McDowall have been added to the squad.

"Scottish Rugby can confirm a Scotland Men's player has tested positive for Covid-19 while preparing to face 'England A' this weekend," read a statement from the Scottish board.

"The player started self-isolation as per Scottish Government guidelines.

"Subsequent internal contact tracing identified a group of eight potential contacts who are also isolating and as such nine players have been ruled out of Sunday's 'A' international fixture against England 'A' at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

"To respect medical confidentiality, Scottish Rugby will not name the individuals affected."