Thirteen Barbarians suspended by RFU for breaching coronavirus rules before cancelled England game

The cancelled match cost the RFU around £1m in lost TV and sponsorship revenues

Chris Robshaw was among the Barbarians to breach protocol (PA)

Thirteen Barbarians players have been suspended by the Rugby Football Union after breaching coronavirus rules which forced an October Test match against England to be cancelled.

All of the players accepted they broke biosecurity protocols in the build-up to the match across two separate incidents, including a night in which several players left the hotel and went out for a meal together. A number of players went out in London on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October, and footage later emerged on social media of the former England captain Chris Robshaw, among others, drinking alcohol at the Running Horse pub in Mayfair on one of the evenings.

The cancelled match cost the RFU around £1m in lost TV and sponsorship revenues. 

All 13 players accepted the charges against them by the sport’s governing body. The most severely punished group went out on both of the evenings concerned and were also charged for giving false testimonies. They included Robshaw as well as Alex Lewington, Fergus McFadden, Juan Pablo Socino, Richard Wigglesworth and Jackson Wray, who were all handed five-week bans with three weeks suspended, and ordered to conduct 50-60 hours of unpaid rugby community work. 

Calum Clark, Sean Maitland and Tim Swinson were handed four-week bans, three of which were suspended, after going out on one of the nights and giving false testimonies. Tom de Glanville, Joel Kpoku and Manu Vunipola were given three-week suspensions as junior members of the party, and Simon Kerrod was handed a two-week ban after giving a truthful account.