Chris Harris is among more than 10 Scotland players who could miss the Six Nations match against France in Paris if Sunday's scheduled game is pushed back by a week following a coronavirus outbreak within the host team
Tuesday 23 February 2021 20:11, UK
Scotland centre Chris Harris would be "devastated" if their Six Nations clash with France was postponed by a week and he was recalled for club duty with Gloucester.
Harris, who is due to go back to his club after Sunday's game, is among more than 10 Scotland players who could miss the Paris match if tournament organisers delayed it by a week following a Covid-19 outbreak among the host team.
Captain Charles Ollivon and scrum-half Antoine Dupont, last year's player of the championship, are among 10 France players to have tested positive, while head coach Fabien Galthie is among staff who are self-isolating.
"I would be pretty upset," Harris said. "Ultimately, I want to play for Scotland, I want to play for my country. I would be pretty devastated on a personal level.
"But if it's not safe to play this weekend, it's not safe. And if I have to go back to Gloucester and I'm not allowed back up, whether they can tweak those laws, it's all stuff that is out of my hands and out of the players' hands.
"We just have to crack on and focus on not letting that be a distraction."
No new cases within the France squad were uncovered in the latest round of testing on Monday night and a decision about the game will be taken on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old added: "We obviously want to play it but ultimately if medical staff think it's not going to be safe, then you have got to trust their judgement.
"It wouldn't be ideal with reg (regulation) nine going into the final week, we would obviously lose boys. I don't know the specifics around that. But we want it to go ahead as a group, as a nation.
"We are in a good place to go over there and really do a job.
"That's our focus. All the other stuff is not our business. It's up to other people to tell us whether it's safe or not and if the game goes ahead. We will just focus on the job at hand."
France have begun their Six Nations campaign with wins against Italy and Ireland on the road.
"Obviously they have lost two or three key players, but they have a big pool of players to select from, they have plenty of quality as back-up," Harris said.
"There are still threats there. But obviously, with the likes of Dupont missing, he's a class act, so it would be a good time.
"But they still have good players. There was a similar situation in the autumn when England played France and they played really well. We can't take it for granted, they are still a good team."
Scotland, who opened with victory against England before a narrow defeat to Wales, have not won in Paris since 1999 and Harris says Gregor Townsend's squad could cope with any added pressure if their opposition is understrength.
"Look, we are ready for it," he said. "We are feeling good, we are playing well. There's still areas that we can improve, and I think that's just quite exciting.
"We are up there - we are in with a shot. It's a big game for us. If we go over there and win, it puts us in a real good spot to win the comp. Everyone believes it.
"We just have to go out there and do the job. That's also why we are keen to get this game to go ahead. That's all our focus is."
