Boyd reveals positive Covid test at Saints ahead of Irish clash

But the Kiwi boss insists there will be no problem in fielding a team to face London Irish at the Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Covid-19 has started to tighten its grip on sport once again in recent weeks, causing games to be postponed in rugby and football.

There has even been talk of a two-week 'circuit-breaker' in football to try to limit the spread of the virus, with the Premier League registering a league-high 18 positive tests this week.

Saints' next opponents, Irish, saw their game against Bath called off last weekend due to Covid-19, but are expected to be able to face the black, green and gold this weekend.

And as it stands, the game is very much on, despite that one positive result at Franklin's Gardens.

"We've actually had our first positive test for a significant number of weeks," Boyd said. "It's been identified from an external source; a sibling of one of the boys.

"The boys have been really vigilant, the club's been really vigilant. You often can't control these things when they happen.

"We're not saying that other people haven't been very good about (controlling Covid infections) but, so far, we've been pretty decent.

"We have gone back, tracked, traced, and we will most likely isolate one or two other people because of close contacts.

"But it doesn't put us anywhere near into jeopardy for getting a team on the paddock for the weekend."

Boyd was asked whether he feels another rugby shutdown - like the one that took place between March and August in 2020 - could be necessary any time soon.

But he said: "One game (being called off) is a little over reactionary.

"If you had two (cancelled games) last weekend, three this weekend and more the next, you might say, ‘how are we going to make this work?’

“The critical currency here is energy and we have got to manage that really carefully.

"Our management treat this as a great challenge, how are we going to come out of this particularly difficult situation with real credit as a club?

“I sense great determination across the medical and professional group. We want to make sure in June we are fit, healthy and on top of the situation.

"If you are brutally honest, there is not much alternative.”