JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

An abundance of caution marked professional rugby’s preseason return on Friday, 166 days after Toulon beat Stade Francais by a single point in what turned out to be the final game of the ill-fated 2019/20 season.
Agen, Lyon, Provence, Carcassonne, Montpellier, and Stade Francais, paused training due to health scares in recent weeks.
Stade’s situation has been the most worrying. A number of players and staff returning from a training camp in Nice tested positive for the virus, prompting the club to halt group training and place the entire sporting...