England captain Owen Farrell has been cleared to face Australia on Saturday after his Covid case was confirmed as a false-positive.
Farrell missed the 69-3 rout of Tonga in the Autumn Nations Series opener at Twickenham after being forced to self-isolate because of the result of a PCR test taken on Thursday.
But he will now rejoin the squad after a review of the sample revealed that he does not have the virus with NHS test and trace on Sunday morning giving the green light to leave quarantine.
𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 | Owen Farrell to re-join the England squad.
More information 👇— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 7, 2021
Advertisement
Frustratingly for England, the laboratory that reviewed the test determined on Saturday morning before the Tonga game that it was a false positive, yet Farrell has only just been told he can return to the squad’s main training base in Surrey.
The Saracens and Lions star had been due to start at fly-half and it was only announced 90 minutes before kick-off that he would not be in action against the Islanders.
“Owen Farrell’s subsequent PCRs have also been negative and therefore he has been released from self-isolation,” a Rugby Football Union statement added.
