Scotland duo provided ‘false’ story while on Baa-Baas duty

SCOTLAND winger Sean Maitland and his former international team-mate Tim Swinson have admitted giving a ‘false account’ to cover up how they broke Covid rules while on Barbarians duty. Both players were fined one-and-a-half weeks’ wages each and suspended for one week, and must undergo 50 hours unpaid rugby community work as punishment. The duo were among 13 Barbarians players sanctioned by the RFU yesterday for their actions ahead of the game against England at Twickenham on October 25, which resulted in the cancellation of the match. England head coach Eddie Jones said that the cancellation of the annual fixture, which cost the RFU around £1million in lost revenue, had turned the game into a ‘laughing stock’. Footage had emerged on social media of Barbarians players drinking in a Mayfair pub and it later transpired that some of those who broke Covid-19 regulations provided false statements during the RFU’s investigation. All 13 players accepted the charges of conduct prejudicial to the interests of the union or the game, with the sanctions determined by the severity of the breaches. The players were split into four groups with six — Chris Robshaw, Alex Lewington, Fergus McFadden, Juan Pablo Socino, Richard Wigglesworth and Jackson Wray — sanctioned for going out on both October 20 and 21 and then providing a false account about their movements on October 21. Calum Clark, Maitland and Swinson were sanctioned for going out only on October 21 and then giving a false account, while Joel Kpoku, Manu Vunipola and Tom de Glanville received a shorter suspension ‘because of their age and their position within the group’. Simon Kerrod was suspended for two weeks and fined a week’s wages for going out only on October 20. He did not provide a false account. Prior to joining the Barbarians camp, the players had signed a code of conduct which stated that they should avoid any public places, with bars and pubs specifically prohibited. On the afternoon of October 20, Robshaw, Wray and Wigglesworth left the team hotel via a fire exit to go for takeaway drinks from the Footman pub in Mayfair and drank them outside. Later they moved into the pub where they were joined by Lewington, Socino, McFadden and Kerrod, contrary to Tier Two regulations then in place in London. The seven players later returned to the hotel via the fire exit. On October 21, 12 players left the team hotel and went to Hush bar in Mayfair, The Running Horse pub and Sergio’s restaurant. When initially questioned, they said they had left the hotel to eat out at McDonald’s and sat in Berkeley Square drinking takeaways. The SRU have not yet commented on whether they will take their own disciplinary action against Maitland, who came off the bench for Scotland in their Autumn Nations Cup loss to Ireland in Dublin at the weekend to win his 50th cap. They had been waiting for the outcome of the hearing before deciding what to do.