RFU charges 13 Barbarians players after Covid-19 protocol breach which led to England fixture cancellation

Getty Imagesfor Barbarians
Will Macpherson29 October 2020

The RFU has charged the 13 Barbarians players who breached Covid-19 protocol last week, leading to the cancellation of England’s fixture with the invitational side, with “conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union or the Game”.

The union has not confirmed the names of the 13 players, saying “it recognises the pressure public scrutiny is placing” on them.  

But a number, including Chris Robshaw and Richard Wigglesworth, apologised for their actions last week, while others appeared in a leaked video of the group drinking in a central London pub. Some players breached the RFU’s protocol on both Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October.  

The names of the players will be revealed when full judgements and sanctions are confirmed after the online hearings before an independent panel chaired by Philip Evans QC. 

Dates are yet to be confirmed for the hearings, where the players will face a range of charges, including individual breaches of the protocols (e.g. leaving the hotel without permission or without informing organisers of their whereabouts) and providing false statements during an investigation.

An RFU statement said that because there is no sanction table in their disciplinary framework for RFU Rule 5.12 (conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union or the Game), the independent panel could issue a range of sanctions at their discretion, including bans from matches and fines.

QBE
QBE

Coverage in association with QBE Insurance. QBE Insurance helps businesses build resilience through risk management and insurance.

For more information go to QBEEUROPE.COM

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in