RFU warn Billy Vunipola after England player tasered and arrested

Billy Vunipola has been given a formal warning by the Rugby Football Union after he was tasered and arrested in Majorca at the end of April.

The 31-year-old was held overnight and fined by Spanish police for disobedience and assaulting a police officer. Extraordinary CCTV footage showed a topless Vunipola laughing while surrounded by officers in a bar. He was also given a four-month suspended prison sentence.

The warning from the RFU will sit on Vunipola’s disciplinary record for five years and could be referred to during any future disciplinary hearings.

Vunipola had previously received a formal warning from the RFU back in 2019 for his comments on social media, during the fallout of Israel Folau’s dismissal by Rugby Australia.

That warning expired in mid-April this year, a few weeks before Vunipola’s arrest, although Telegraph Sport understands that even if the previous warning still been active on Vunipola’s record, it was unlikely to be relied upon as part of his disciplinary hearing given the warning was related to social media.

Vunipola, who is in contention for Saracens’ game against Bristol Bears this weekend, was also given a formal warning by his club. The former England No 8 was arrested by police officers at 4.30am after refusing to put on his shirt and leave a bar in Palma. He was fined €240 (£205) and given a four-month suspended prison sentence by local authorities, expressing his regret over the incident in an interview last week.

In a statement the RFU noted Vunipola’s “clear contrition”, while adding that his actions risked “bringing the game as a whole into disrepute” and “go against the core values of rugby which collectively the sport works hard to promote”.

Vunipola won what appears to be his 75th and final England cap during the Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa last year. He was not called up for the Six Nations and is expected to join Montpellier next season, ending an 11-year successful spell with Saracens.

Aside from the formal warnings Vunipola’s disciplinary record has been largely clean, with the exception of his three-match ban for a high tackle during England’s World Cup warm-up match against Ireland last year.

The statement read: “The RFU has reviewed the information Saracens provided following its investigation into the incident involving Billy Vunipola in Mallorca on 27 April, which resulted in the club issuing him with a formal warning. We have also considered the apologies Billy has provided, his clear contrition and the circumstances around the incident and have concluded the most appropriate course of action is to issue a formal warning under RFU Regulation 19.6.13. This warning will sit on his record for five years and may be relied upon in future disciplinary proceedings.

“It has been made clear to Billy that as a senior and respected player, such actions risk bringing the game as a whole into disrepute. In particular, such actions clearly go against the core values of rugby which collectively the sport works hard to promote.”

Saracens addressed the incident earlier this week, with director of rugby Mark McCall stating that the matter was settled.

“The only thing that I would add to what the club has said is that when someone does something wrong, the first reaction doesn’t always have to be to punish that person,” McCall said. “Sometimes you’ve got to understand why what happened happened, to support and help. It doesn’t always have to be a punishment.”