Mako Vunipola was set to link up with the England camp on Monday but did not join up with the rest of the squad. Getty
Mako Vunipola was set to link up with the England camp on Monday but did not join up with the rest of the squad. Getty
Mako Vunipola was set to link up with the England camp on Monday but did not join up with the rest of the squad. Getty
Mako Vunipola was set to link up with the England camp on Monday but did not join up with the rest of the squad. Getty

England prop Mako Vunipola in self-isolation as a precaution over coronavirus fears


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England prop Mako Vunipola is in self-isolation as a precaution due to coronavirus fears after flying back from Tonga via Hong Kong.

He was set to link up with Eddie Jones' squad on Monday for a training camp, with a view to featuring in Saturday's Six Nations match against Wales.

But the 29-year-old did not join the rest of the group and will miss the fixture after being advised to self-isolate under current NHS guidelines, according to the PA news agency .

"Mako is not in camp on medical grounds. He is not sick, but it is a precaution," a Rugby Football Union spokesperson said.

Vunipola is not expected to play again in the tournament and had originally been expected to miss the clash with the Grand Slam champions after travelling to Tonga recently for unspecified personal reasons.

There have been 51 coronavirus cases in the UK, while the first confirmed case of the virus in Hong Kong occurred on January 23.

It has since risen to 100 cases in the Chinese city, and Vunipola is now expected to spend the next 14 days in self-isolation despite showing no symptoms.

Ireland's game against Italy has been postponed because of coronavirus, but Six Nations organisers said on Monday that the rest of the weekend's fixtures were set to go ahead.

There had been fears that the games on March 14 between Italy and England in Rome and France and Ireland in Paris would be called off.

But representatives of the Six Unions and championship officials met in Paris on Monday and agreed that the two matches and the other games in England, Scotland and Wales over the final two rounds of the competition would take place.

"As it stands today, based on the latest information, all Six Nations matches currently scheduled are set to go ahead," organisers said.

"Six Nations is in contact with FIR [Italy's Rugby Federation] and RFU [England's Rugby Football Union] regarding the possibility of relocating the Women's and U20 Italy vs England matches to another Italian location and we will make a further announcement on this in due course.

"However, the Italy vs England senior men's match in Rome is planned to go ahead as scheduled."

The organisers said they intended to complete all 15 games across the three championships but would not commit to rescheduling fixtures while the situation was being assessed.

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg