Barbarians 13 banned and heavily fined as RFU stick boot in
The RFU have announced a series of suspensions and heavy fines following an investigation into the 13 Barbarians players who broke coronavirus protocols and forced the cancellation of the October 25 fixture against England. The Barbarians’ meeting with England at Twickenham was cancelled after a number of Barbarians players went out socialising in the week leading up to the game, leading to concerns surrounding the health risk to other players and management in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thirteen players were subject to an online hearing after being charged by the RFU, including charges of misleading the subsequent investigation into the incident.
A number of Barbarians players were pictured drinking in a London pub on the Tuesday before the game, while in a separate incident on Wednesday, another group of players broke protocol by visiting two bars and a restaurant, breaking the UK Government’s coronavirus restrictions in doing so.
The RFU’s investigation found that the players involved had behaved “in a way that ignored what the public at large and the Rugby community were complying with”, adding that they were guilty of “deliberately compromising an investigation being carried out by the RFU as swiftly as the circumstances demanded.”
An RFU statement today names the 13 players involved as Alex Lewington, Fergus McFadden, Juan Pablo Socino, Chris Robshaw, Richard Wigglesworth, Jackson Wray, Calum Clark, Sean Maitland, Tim Swinson, Tom de Glanville, Joel Kpoku, Manu Vunipola and Simon Kerrod.
All 13 players have accepted the charges and the independent panel has determined a range of sanctions according to the severity of the breaches.
An RFU statement read: “The total charges across 13 players are 85 weeks of match bans; 44 weeks suspended subject to conditions being met and 41 weeks of bans to be taken concurrently; players have been fined a total of 18.5 weeks salary and given a total of 630 hours of community service.”
Before joining the Barbarians camp all of the players involved had signed a code of conduct which specifically included avoiding bars and public houses, and had been ordered not to leave the team hotel unless they had received special authorisation to do so. The panel was told the players knew they were breaching the code of conduct and had left the hotel via a fire exit in order to “avoid any confrontation.”
In handing out the sanctions, the RFU have separated the offending players into four different groups.
Group one includes Lewington, Robshaw, Wray and Wigglesworth, who were all found to have went out on both the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. As a result they have been ordered to conduct 50 hours of unpaid rugby community work to be completed before the 19 October 2021. Socino and McFadden, who were also out on both evenings, will conduct 60 hours of unpaid rugby community work.
Calum Clark, Sean Maitland and Tim Swinson were listed in group two as ‘Older and more experienced players who went out only on the Wednesday evening and then gave a false account.’ All three have been fined 1.5 week’s wages, reduced from 3 weeks as a result of their mitigation, along with a four week suspension, three of which will be suspended subject to their future conduct and the completion of unpaid community work.
Kpoku, Vunipola and Tom de Glanville are in group three, ‘Younger players who can be distinguished in terms of the seriousness of their offending because of their age and their position within the group.’ They have been fined one week’ wages and suspended for three weeks, with all three weeks suspended subject to their future conduct and the completion of unpaid community work.
Kerrod is the only player listed in group four, and was found to have “Went out but only on the Tuesday evening; he did not provide a false account.” He has been handed a two-week suspension and fined one week’s wages.
The RFU’s statement can be read here, while a full breakdown of the individual sanctions can be found here.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments