Saracens sack Totoa Auvaa after fresh incident

Saracens have confirmed that academy forward Totoa Auvaa has left the club with immediate effect following a fresh off-field incident, months after he was involved in a London nightclub episode that also drew England cricketers Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson into disciplinary proceedings.

Totoa Auvaa leaves Saracens

The 21-year-old Samoan forward had initially been stood down from all club duties after an incident in St Albans on October 10 while Saracens carried out an internal investigation.

The club subsequently confirmed his departure, saying Auvaa’s conduct had fallen below the standards expected of anyone representing Saracens on or off the field.

Saracens added that it took its responsibilities to supporters, young people and partners seriously and would make no further comment.

June nightclub incident involved England cricketers

Auvaa had previously been involved in a separate nightclub incident in London on June 8 involving Stokes and Atkinson.

During that episode, a punch directed towards Atkinson missed and struck a member of England’s security staff, who required stitches.

Saracens conducted its own review of the incident at the time and took no formal disciplinary action against Auvaa.

Stokes and Atkinson cleared of violent conduct

An ECB disciplinary hearing later found that Stokes and Atkinson had breached contractual obligations relating to their conduct, and both received written warnings after being unavailable for England’s second Test against New Zealand.

However, the ECB concluded that neither player was to blame for violent conduct. Stokes was found not to have been involved in or witnessed the altercation, while Atkinson was judged to have been the victim of unprovoked attacks and not to have retaliated.

Both returned for the third Test, during which Stokes announced that he would retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the match.