Saracens dismiss Totoa Auvaa after St Albans incident

Saracens have dismissed academy forward Totoa Auvaa following an incident in St Albans over the weekend, confirming on Monday that his departure takes effect immediately. BBC Sport reported that the 21-year-old Samoan had initially been removed from club duties while the English rugby union side investigated what had happened.

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The club's announcement identified Auvaa as a member of its senior men's academy and said it had concluded that his behaviour was incompatible with the standards required of Saracens representatives. The statement applied those expectations to conduct away from rugby as well as on the field, and stressed the club's obligations to supporters, young people and commercial partners.

An earlier Saracens statement placed the incident in St Albans on the evening of Saturday, 10 October. At that stage, the club said an academy player had been stood down while an internal inquiry established the facts. The subsequent announcement confirmed Auvaa's exit but did not describe the incident in detail. Saracens said it would make no additional comment.

BBC Sport reported that Auvaa had also been involved in a separate London nightclub incident in June involving England cricketers Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson. According to the broadcaster, a member of England's security team needed medical treatment after Auvaa struck him. The weekend incident and Monday's decision therefore follow an earlier episode that had already brought the academy player to wider attention.

In the cricket disciplinary proceedings arising from the June incident, an England and Wales Cricket Board hearing found that Stokes and Atkinson had failed to fulfil contractual duties, but cleared both of violent conduct, BBC Sport reported. The two players were unavailable for England's second Test against New Zealand, which England lost. Auvaa was not sanctioned over that earlier incident, according to the report.

Stokes returned for the deciding third Test and announced during that match that he would retire from international cricket when it ended. The latest Saracens statement concerns a different incident and establishes Auvaa's immediate departure, while leaving the circumstances of the weekend episode undisclosed.