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The Rugby Football Union has confirmed that 13 Barbarians players have been handed a four-week ban following their Covid-19 breach in October.
Chris Robshaw, Alex Lewington, Fergus McFadden, Juan Pablo Socino, Richard Wigglesworth and Jackson Wray left the team bubble twice and as a result were originally handed 10-week ban that was reduced by half taking into account the mitigating factors. Out of the five, three are suspended subject to there being no further off-field offending by the players for one year.
Lewington, Robshaw, Wray and Wigglesworth will also have to do 50 hours of unpaid rugby community work while McFadden and Socino will have to additional 10 hours.
Calum Clark, Sean Maitland and Tim Swinson all received a four-week ban out of which three are suspended while Tom de Glanville, Joel Kpoku and Manu Vunipola were given three-week ban with Simon Kerrod suspended for two weeks.
“The sanctions reflect the seriousness of the charges which include behaving in a way that ignored what the public at large and the rugby community were complying with and deliberately compromising an investigation being carried out by the RFU as swiftly as the circumstances demanded,” read a statement from the England board.
The breach from the players led to the cancellation of the Barbarians’ Quilter Cup game against England which led to £1m lost in sponsorship and broadcast revenue.
