Six Argentina players and two staff have been kicked out of the Rugby Championship for breaching tournament health rules after taking an unauthorised trip to the New South Wales resort of Byron Bay, tournament organisers said on Thursday.
The tournament has been operating under strict biosecurity protocols in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland due to COVID-19.
The eight team members are Sebastián Cancelliere, Lucas Chioccarelli (manager), Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Felipe Ezcurra, Pablo Matera, Rodrigo Martínez (video analyst), Santiago Medrano and Santiago Socino, Argentina confirmed.
SANZAAR said the players had broken the tournament's rules when they travelled across the Queensland state border with New South Wales to visit Byron Bay, a popular tourist destination.
"SANZAAR has informed Argentina Rugby that all members of this group are now ineligible to participate further in The Rugby Championship as they have breached tournament rules," SANZAAR said in a statement.
"SANZAAR is very disappointed that such a breach has occurred given the clear rules that are in place to ensure the health and safety of all players and staff, and compliance with all relevant health orders."
SANZAAR said the players, who had been stopped from re-entering Queensland by police due to a lack of documentation, would stay in New South Wales until rejoining the rest of the Argentina squad on Sunday.
The governing body added that the final Rugby Championship test between Argentina and Australia would go ahead on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Argentina have lost all five matches they have played in the tournament.
Reuters
