| Conference location: Twickenham Stadium Date: Sunday October 25th Kicking off: 14:00 GMT |
| Cover: Live text on the BBC Sport website and app; Highlights on BBC Two and online from 18:00 GMT. |
Chris Robshaw, Richard Wigglesworth, Sean Maitland and Jackson Wray are among the 12 barbarians who stepped down from Sunday’s game against England after violating Covid’s rules.
Contrary to team protocols, the players left their hotel bubble to have dinner in a central London restaurant.
Sunday’s game is even as the barbarians try to recruit enough players to replace those who have resigned.
A deadline of 3:00 PM BST has been set to assemble a 23-person squad.
The Rugby Football Union has launched an investigation into the violation with the aim of bringing any culprit before an independent disciplinary body to discredit the game.
It is believed that those in charge of Premiership rugby emailed the clubs on Thursday to ask if they would approve players to play for the barbarians.
Given the requirements for players who must be in a bubble and have a negative coronavirus test result, additional players are expected to be mostly from the English camp, which was not selected by Eddie Jones.
Most of the BBC Sport club chairmen have been very supportive of what is being referred to as the “SOS” and believe this is a good opportunity for their players who otherwise might have been sacked by England.
In addition to Wigglesworth, Wray and Maitland, a number of other Saracen players were probably also involved.
Barbarian FC expressed “extreme disappointment” with the behavior of players who violated the rules.
They only announced their 23-man squad on Wednesday and are facing a significant task of replacing the displaced.
Cardiff RFC said on Friday Center Max Llewellyn, son of the former Welsh Castle Gareth, and full-back Ioan Davies had been named to the squad.
The players involved in Wednesday night’s unauthorized excursion were kept separate from the rest of the barbarians on their return to the hotel.
Although the team is due to be retested for coronavirus ahead of Sunday’s game in Twickenham, the Rugby Football Union said it was “not possible to guarantee that these players will not be contagious in the period up to and including the game”.
“The RFU planned the game to warm up to the postponed decider Italy vs England Guinness Six Nations, but this will not affect the safety of the players,” she added.
The construction of the Barbarians games is famous for its focus on socializing and the team management installed a team room in their London base to keep the players entertained.
Leicester wing Nemani Nadolo, who has played for the Barbarians twice, and Bristol Bears, who was ready to take part in Saturday’s Premiership final Wasps have been shown to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. were among those who offered their services to the barbarians on social media.
