Premiership: Gloucester v Worcester cancelled due to injuries & illness in Warriors camp

Worcester are 11th in the Premiership, 24 points behind fifth-placed Gloucester

Worcester's Premiership match at Gloucester on Friday has been cancelled because of injuries, illness and Covid-19 in the Warriors squad.

Worcester say they have 36 players unavailable, leaving just 18 "fully fit" players to choose from.

Just three of those are prop forwards, meaning they are unable to field the required six front-row players.

The game will not be replayed and an independent panel will decide the allocation of points.

"When the side to face Gloucester was announced on Thursday we named the only four fit props in the club at that stage," Worcester said in a statement.

"The availability of Murray McCallum, who was named as replacement tight-head, was subject to him passing a fitness test on Friday morning. Unfortunately, Murray failed that fitness test.

"We apologise to Gloucester, supporters of both clubs and BT Sport for the inconvenience this will inevitably cause but exceptional circumstances have conspired against us."

Earlier this season, Sale's trip to Newcastle on Boxing Day and Bath's trip to London Irish on 3 January were called off because of coronavirus cases.

In both those instances the side which cancelled the game were awarded two points while the side without illness were given four points.

"Gloucester Rugby would like to extend its deepest apologies to our supporters," a club statement read.

"While this is not a matter which the club were able to influence despite best efforts, we recognise the significant disruption this causes for both sets of supporters, players and staff.

"The club will work with Premiership Rugby and the RFU as a matter of urgency to determine next steps, after which point, we will be in touch with club members and ticket purchasers to confirm the refund process."

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