Saracens have sacked academy forward Totoa Auvaa with immediate effect following an incident over the weekend, four months after he was involved in the nightclub altercation that preceded Ben Stokes' retirement from international cricket.
The 21-year-old Samoan, a member of the club's Senior Men's Academy, was involved in an incident in St Albans on Saturday night. Saracens confirmed on Monday evening that Auvaa had left the club following an internal investigation.
In a club statement, Saracens said Auvaa's conduct "falls short of the standards expected of everyone who represents Saracens, both on and off the pitch." The club said it takes its responsibilities to supporters, young people and partners seriously and will not be making any further comment. It has not said what happened.
Auvaa escaped punishment following the June nightclub incident, which led to cricketers Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson being dropped by England for the second Test against New Zealand. Separate Saracens and England cricket nights out had converged on two pubs before the trio ended up in the VIP area of the Rex Rooms nightclub in the early hours of June 8. The two cricketers had broken a midnight curfew while celebrating a first Test win over New Zealand at Lord's.
An England and Wales Cricket Board investigation cleared Stokes and Atkinson of violent conduct, finding they had been blameless victims of "unprovoked attacks." Both were given formal written warnings for breaching their central contracts. Stokes later resigned the captaincy and announced his retirement from international cricket, while Atkinson has remained in the England set-up and has since been awarded another central contract.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing