Leinster's last 16 Heineken Champions Cup game with Toulon has been called off.
The game was due to take place at the RDS from 5.30pm on Friday evening.
A member of the French squad has tested positive for Covid-19.
BREAKING: Today's #HeinekenChampionsCup tie v @RCTofficiel is off.
More to follow...#LEIvRCT
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 2, 2021
The decision comes after talks between the clubs and the tournament's medical council on whether to proceed or not with the game since Thursday evening.
The quarter-finals are due to take place next weekend meaning there is no realistic window this game could be rescheduled and Leinster are likely to receive a walk-over.
If this does happen, Leo Cullen's side will face either Exeter Chiefs or Lyon next weekend in the last eight of the competition.
A statement from the EPCR on Friday in relation to the fixture read:
Following a meeting by video conference of a Match Day Medical Risk Assessment Committee comprising medical leads from the unions, league bodies and both clubs, with input from the public health authorities in Ireland, it has been decided to cancel the Heineken Champions Cup, Round of 16 match between Leinster Rugby and RC Toulon which was scheduled for this evening (Friday 2 April) at the RDS Arena.
The Committee, which received independent medical advice from Dr Brendan Payne (England) and Dr Daniel Koch (Switzerland), was informed that an RC Toulon player, who did not travel to Ireland, had tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the club’s routine testing.
Although the RC Toulon players and staff who had travelled undertook an additional round of PCR testing in Dublin yesterday (Thursday 1 April) which revealed no positive results, the Committee concluded that there were a number of high-risk contacts with the player who had tested positive and deemed the match unsafe to play with the participation of those identified contacts.
Having been notified of that position, RC Toulon informed EPCR that they could not select a match day squad to safely fulfil the fixture.
Having explored all possible alternative arrangements to facilitate the staging of the fixture, it was decided that the match could not be played safely given both the current public health guidelines in Ireland and EPCR’s COVID-19 protocol.
A Match Result Resolution Committee will be convened as soon as practicable to determine the outcome of the fixture.
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