Robshaw & other Barbarians slapped with bans and fines
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Former England captain Chris Robshaw has copped a four-week ban after reportedly breaching coronavirus protocols while with the Barbarians squad.
The 34 year-old was also fined two weeks’ salary for his contravention and was among a dozen other players who were dished out the similar punishment by the RFU.
The result of the players’ actions was that the Barbarians game, which was scheduled for 25 October, had to be cancelled.
It became apparent that a number of the squad went out in London on Tuesday 20 October and Wednesday 21 October, thus breaking the guidelines set in place to ensure the players were not exposed to the virus.
The players’ guilt was sealed when video footage emerged of a number of them partying at the Running Horse pub in Mayfair. Rather disappointingly, several players also submitted false statements during the RFU’s investigation.
The RFU issued the following statement:
"A hearing of the RFU Disciplinary Panel in relation to charges brought against a group of players selected for the Barbarians took place on during the week of 22nd November, the outcome of which has recently been announced.
As a club, we want our supporters and everybody associated with Saracens to know that we have taken this matter extremely seriously. 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. This, in addition to writing personal letters of apology to each of the major stakeholders impacted.
The club felt it was important that we implemented our own set of sanctions ahead of the RFU Disciplinary Hearing so that the players involved were very clear on the severity of their actions and the negative impact they have had on the club and our supporters. In considering these sanctions we looked to other professional sports and professional sports clubs who have experienced similar breaches of Covid-19 protocols. The club have now implemented these sanctions, which are consistent with those imposed by the RFU Disciplinary Panel.
The players understand that they demonstrated poor judgement without thinking of the consequences of their actions. One of our club values is to care for people. It is now time for us to support our players and help them learn from their mistakes."
