Barbarians’ Covid breach puts England game in doubt

England’s match against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday could be called off following a breach of coronavirus protocols by the invitational side, the Rugby Football Union announced Thursday.

“The RFU is reviewing if the Quilter Cup England v Barbarians fixture scheduled for Sunday 25 October can still go ahead,” said a statement from English rugby union’s governing body.

The statement added that on the evening of October 21 a number of Barbarians players breached the agreed Covid code of conduct protocol by leaving their hotel bubble without permission and without informing organisers about their whereabouts.

“On their return, the players were immediately separated from the rest of the group in the bubble in order to protect its integrity,” the statement explained.

By leaving their Covid-secure environment, the players concerned had risked a potential transmission of the virus from individuals outside the bubble.

The RFU said that even with a further round of testing for this group it will not be possible to guarantee that these players are not infectious in the period up to and including the match.

As a result those players — the statement did not specify how many had been involved — were ruled out of Sunday’s fixture and sent away from the squad.

The RFU said that “if sufficient new players with an appropriate testing history and who have been meeting the code of conduct standards can be brought into the Barbarians camp then the game will go ahead”.

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