Featherstone pair return home to be with families

James Gordon

Louis Jouffret gets the ball away. Featherstone Rovers 18 v. Barrow Raiders 16 - Coral Challenge Cup 4th Round - 22nd February 2020

Featherstone pair Louis Jouffret and Dean Parata have returned home to be with their families during the coronavirus outbreak.

They follow team-mates Conor Carey and Alec Susino, who have already travelled back to Australia, with the club saying they have their full support – and that players will continue to train at home.

Frenchman Jouffret said: “With what is happening the world at the moment surrounding the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, I have decided to go back to France to be closer to my family during these uncertain times.

“I’m still training here in Marseille to keep me in good shape for whenever the season will restart, hopefully that will be sooner rather than later!”

Rovers’ CEO, Davide Longo, once again spoke about his full support to both players and offered an update on the Club’s current situation.

Longo said: “The situation with Louis and Dean is the same we had with the lads last week, the Club 100% understands the players needs to travel home to be with their families.

“Of course we will miss them, but at the moment there isn’t any rugby to be played, so we will look forward to their returns when the current circumstance around the globe get better.

“At the moment, we are following government guidelines and are currently operating with a skeleton workforce at the Millennium Stadium. The stadium will remain closed to the general public until further notice as we will await further guidance from the government.”