Madness.

When it comes to controversy in rugby these days you can’t look much further than Saracens. The Premiership side have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons for the last few months and they’ve done it again today.

Their prop Mako Vunipola will miss England’s Six Nations clash with Wales this weekend because of a medical issue, England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot revealed earlier this week.

The reason? Well, it turns out Vunipola stopped off in Hong Kong on his way back from Tonga last week and with the coronavirus epidemic originating in China, England took swift action to isolate the player and get him out of camp, despite him showing no symptoms.

“Mako is not in camp on medical grounds. He is not sick, but it is a precaution,” a Rugby Football Union (RFU) spokesperson said.

A smart move from the RFU to be fair. England and Ireland’s Six Nations fixtures with Italy have also been called off because of an outbreak in northern Italy and at this stage – it’s about taking every preventative measure to stop the potential spread.

Whether you have symptoms or not if you’ve been to an area that has been hit bad, self-isolation is the only way to go. But what have Saracens gone and done? Sure they’ve only gone and picked him to start in the Premiership this weekend.

Vunipola hasn’t played for Saracens in two months and with the club already set to be relegated why bother? Why create unnecessary criticism? Especially after what has gone down this season. Why go against the RFU?

It’s actually baffling.