Five unvaccinated England stars could be forced to miss summer tour of Australia
Rugby NewsSunday, 16 January 2022 at 11:14
At least five England stars could be forced to miss the 2022 summer tour o Australia, after they reportedly refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Rugby Football Union has confirmed that players and staff are now above the 85% required vaccination target.
However, in order to reduce the chance of any Covid-19 outbreaks, Australia are enforcing a rule banning any unvaccinated players or sportsmen from competing in their country.
That law saw Tennis World number one Novak Djokovic deported from Australia on the eve of Australian Open after losing a last-ditch court bid to stay in the country.
And that could spell serious trouble for England head coach Eddie Jones, who could lose at least five players that are all refusing to receive the coronavirus vaccination, according to reports.
One of the players thought to have rejected the vaccine is Henry Slade following his comments earlier this year.
"I have had vaccines in the past and have fallen pretty unwell with them afterwards," said the England centre.
"I don't know if that has anything to do with the diabetes or not.
"I am going to stay away from this one.
"I just think there hasn't been anywhere near enough testing to deem it safe."
Diabetes UK "strongly encourages" anyone with the condition to get vaccinated.
"People with diabetes are vulnerable to developing a severe illness if they do get coronavirus, and vaccines are the most effective way to prevent that from happening," its website states.
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Joe Marler on three rugby stars he cannot stand
England prop Joe Marler is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two - especially when it's about someone he doesn't particularly like.
#1. Israel Folau
Over 1,000 days since Folau last played a professional match of rugby union, Marler's old Twitter sparring partner made his return to the sport over the weekend.
The loose-head prop takes any chance he can to call out the former Wallabies fullback, who could soon represent Tonga, for his homophobic views.
In a series of tweets sent directly to Folau, Marler attached pictures and GIFs of men kissing, in a display of defiant humour which was praised by fellow players and LGBTQ fans alike.
Marler later named Folau in his dream team in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
On selecting Folau as his fullback, Marler commented, "On the night out, after we had played our match on the Saturday, I'd take him out in Brighton to The Blue Oyster... a couple of clubs."
#2. Marland Yarde
The winger dramatically left Harlequins in 2017 to join Premiership rivals Sale Sharks in an unusual mid-season move.
Marler said: “I hadn’t spoken to the bloke in 18 months,
“I’d lost the plot with him a good while ago. And let him be, let him do his own thing, because I’d given up on it
“He’d made the decision that he wanted to leave…you know, all the best to him. I wish him all the best. I don’t wish nastiness upon anyone.
“He’s one of those to just leave, as he won’t change in my mind. Me and him just don’t get on.”
#3. Sir Clive Woodward
Woodward tore apart Eddie Jones' side during a webinar, slamming Marler and fellow prop Dan Cole for their behaviour in a press conference prior to the loss against South Africa back in November. This wasn't the first time the 2003 World Cup-winning coach called out the prop.
After reading an article on the Rugby Pass website highlighting Woodward's comments, he tweeted him directly, saying: "Change the record Sir Clive - you should be grateful you can 'milk the cow' for another 3 years."
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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