Last weekend the England Rugby team were meant to play the Barbarians at Twickenham in international rugby but the game has been cancelled due to a breach in Covid 19 safety. The game was officially cancelled on 23rd of October with the game set to play on the 25th of October. This was a huge blow to the teams as both teams had been training hard for the fixture. England had been training at the Lensbury Hotel in Teddington where strict Covid 19 measures have been put in place. The Barbarians are staying in a hotel in Park Lane, in Central London. The breach occurred when 12 Barbarian players went out for an unauthorised dinner in Central London. The players have since been removed from the squad due to this behaviour.
The unofficial dinner broke the Barbarian Covid bubble and is said to cost the RFU around 1 million pounds to call off the game as well as a loss of income for those involved in putting on the match. This incident meant that some players didn’t have their time to shine and prove to Eddie Jones, the England coach, that they could play for England in future matches for the Six Nation’s tournament. Obviously this is a huge disappointment for rugby fans who were looking forward to watching this fixture today on television. The game had already been postponed from its original date in June due to Covid 19 and England fans have waited eight months to watch a match and this have ruined the hopes of England fans.
Let’s hope that the next match, with England playing Italy on the 31st of October, will be able to go ahead without breaching the necessary Covid-19 measures put in place.
