Former Ireland international Fergus McFadden has been ordered to undertake 60 hours of unpaid rugby community work after being handed his punishment for breaching Covid-19 protocols when on duty with the Barbarians in October. Due to the fact that McFadden has now retired from rugby, he avoided a wages fine, and a suspension from the game. 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. In total, the 13 players have been banned for 85 weeks, with 44 weeks suspended subject to conditions being met. In response to the judgment, Saracens released a statement which read: "The eight current Saracens players involved made some extremely poor decisions leading to actions which were foolish and serious in nature.

Source: Irish Independent December 08, 2020 18:59 UTC