'Rugby player in staying out late shocker' - Twitter sees lighter side of the Te'o/Vunipola hotel incident

In light of the story surrounding Ben Te’o and Billy Vunipola’s late night after England’s draw to Scotland on Saturday, fans on Twitter cannot believe that this is newsworthy.

The duo came in in the late hours of Sunday morning and caused a disturbance in their west London hotel. While there is no curfew in Eddie Jones’ team, players are expected to return together.

However, at the end of a long Six Nations Championship, many fans have taken the players’ side, highlighting the pressure that is put on professional sportspeople and the fact that they are still humans. Some fans are even questioning the environment that Eddie Jones and England are creating whereby this would be deemed a serious offence.

This is what the fans are saying:

https://twitter.com/bigphilgj/status/1108673073740500994
https://twitter.com/fwb1974/status/1108673168779235328
https://twitter.com/adamreuben/status/1108635617951404032
https://twitter.com/mark_scott3103/status/1108475583636430851
https://twitter.com/cwalters1927/status/1108465080612675587
https://twitter.com/madaboutewe/status/1108468096950505473
https://twitter.com/NykomaHamilton/status/1108493632754077701
https://twitter.com/ColinDavies8/status/1108490166015008770
https://twitter.com/rich3393/status/1108488766417788928
https://twitter.com/shaunie_72/status/1108507138979188736

Think most of them had a bevvy at half time never mind after the match.

— Ross (@rossh3976_ross) March 21, 2019

The consensus is clearly that the players are allowed to go out at the end of a tournament, as time in the England training camp would have taken its toll.

Of course, in the past, Manu Tuilagi and Denny Solomona were sent home from an England training camp for a similar transgression, but perhaps the fans feel differently about this one due to the fact that the Six Nations is now over. Indeed, some fans have made light of the story, suggesting England started drinking at half time of their match at Twickenham, after squandering a 31-7 lead against Scotland.

Furthermore, as much as Welsh fans would want to deride their rival nation, and vice versa, this seems to be a story in which the fans have universally sided with the players.

Both Te’o and Vunipola have apologised to their teammates, and the issue has been dealt with by England, and it looks as though that is the end of it, even though the fans feel there was nothing to begin with.