Saints players miss out on England date as Barbarians clash is cancelled

Saints' Piers Francis was expected to be involved for England against Barbarians on Sunday

The match was set to feature a number of Saints players, with six included in head coach Eddie Jones' training squad, but the fixture has now been called off due to breaches of Covid-19 regulations by several Baa-Baas players.

A total of 12 Barbarians players, including former England captain Chris Robshaw, left their hotel bubble on Wednesday night - contrary to team protocols - to have dinner at a London restaurant in midweek.

Also, as part of its ongoing investigation into that breach of the Covid code of conduct, the RFU has now discovered there was an earlier undisclosed breach that took place on Tuesday (October 20) when a number of Barbarians players left the hotel bubble without permission, and without informing organisers about their whereabouts.

All the players involved in the breaches were immediately stood down and barred from playing in the fixture, and despite the efforts of Barbarians to find players to replace them and put together a 23-man squad for the match, they were unable to do so.

It means that six Saints players - Alex Moon, David Ribbans, Fraser Dingwall, Piers Francis, George Furbank and Alex Mitchell - will now have a free weekend.

The match against the Barbarians was to be England's only warm-up match ahead of their rescheduled Six Nations match against Italy in Rome next Saturday.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) said the Barbarians players' actions mean the 'bubble environment' has been compromised.

"We are incredibly disappointed to be calling a halt to this fixture," said RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney.

"We know how much fans were looking forward to seeing the teams play.

"However, our priority is to protect the health and safety of the England squad and the other international teams they will go up against this autumn."

"There has been a great deal of effort put into Covid codes of conduct and planning for games, including cooperation with Premiership clubs to release additional players to fulfil the fixture safely, and we are all incredibly frustrated and disappointed that the actions of a number of Barbarians players mean we no longer feel it is safe for the game to go ahead.”

The RFU investigation is ongoing and no details on individuals or numbers of players involved will be confirmed until the investigation is concluded.