Robshaw among 13 Barbarians who were punished by RFU on Tuesday for breaching coronavirus protocols ahead of fixture against England in October, which was subsequently cancelled
Tuesday 8 December 2020 19:20, UK
Former England captain Chris Robshaw has been banned for four weeks and fined two weeks' salary for breaching coronavirus protocols while on duty with the Barbarians.
Robshaw is among the 13 Barbarians players who were punished by the RFU on Tuesday for their actions ahead of the non-cap international against England at Twickenham on October 25, which resulted in the cancellation of the match.
In total the 13 players have been banned for 85 weeks, with 44 weeks suspended subject to conditions being met and 41 weeks of bans to be taken concurrently.
The players have been fined a total of 18.5 weeks' salary and ordered to undertake a total of 630 hours of community service.
A number of players went out in London on Tuesday, October 20 and Wednesday, October 21.
Footage emerged on social media of Robshaw, Sean Maitland, Jackson Wray, Joel Kpoku, Fergus McFadden and Manu Vunipola - among others - drinking alcohol at the Running Horse pub in Mayfair on one of the evenings.
It later emerged some of those who broke Covid-19 regulations provided false statements during the Rugby Football Union's investigation.
Six players - Robshaw, Richard Wigglesworth, Wray, McFadden, Juan Pablo Socino and Alex Lewington - were given five-week suspensions reduced to two weeks for the breach, on the condition they do 50 hours of unpaid rugby community work and there is "no further off-field offending" by the players. They were also suspended for an additional two weeks for "false account" and fined two weeks' wages.
Maitland, Calum Clark and Tim Swinson, were handed four-week bans for the breach, with three weeks suspended under the same stipulations, banned for two weeks for "false account" and fined one-and-a-half weeks' wages.
Kpoku, Vunipola and Tom de Glanville were handed three-week bans for the breach which suspended under condition of community work and no further offences, banned for two weeks for "false account" and fined one week's wages.
Simon Kerrod was given a two-week suspension for the Covid breach and fined a week's wages.
All 13 players accepted the charges of conduct prejudicial to the interests of the union or the game.
The Barbarians released a statement on Tuesday in which club president John Spencer said: "We welcome the judgment of the RFU's independent panel today and fully support the conclusion and results of the disciplinary hearings."
Spencer added the invitational club was "immensely disappointed" the protocols put in place to aid the delivery of a fixture during the coronavirus pandemic were ignored by the players.
"A huge amount of work across both the RFU and Barbarian FC went into the preparations and as a club, while we recognised and impressed upon our squad it may not be a full Barbarians experience, we worked to plan good times on and off the pitch and a chance to make lifelong friendships," Spencer continued.
"The majority of all those involved met that expectation and it goes without saying we are proud of and grateful to all of those players and staff. To be involved in the return of international rugby to Twickenham during a year when our beloved sport was put on hold around the world was to be a great privilege.
"The players involved took it upon themselves to ignore those protocols and we are immensely disappointed. We apologise unreservedly for the behaviour of those players, who acted in this irresponsible manner.
"We are hugely disappointed these players breached that trust and put the health of the squad, the fixture against England, and the reputation of this historic club, at such great risk.
"We must now close the book on the subject and look towards the future."
In response to the judgment, Saracens released a statement which read: "The eight current Saracens players involved made some extremely poor decisions leading to actions which were foolish and serious in nature.
"The players have been punished for the mistakes that they have made and they could not be more remorseful or apologetic.
"They are absolutely devastated their misguided actions led to the cancellation of the England vs Barbarians game and caused great upset amongst rugby fans, and specifically to Saracens fans who have been incredible during such a challenging year.
"Following the incident, the Saracens players each voluntarily moved swiftly to take substantial steps by way of recompense and atonement for their actions, including contributions to help cover lost wages for casual workers at Twickenham Stadium, donations to the Matt Ratana Foundation and commitment to raise significant further funds for this charity in the months ahead."
Saracens also stated they had implemented their own sanctions "which are consistent with those imposed by the RFU Disciplinary Panel".
