Mako Vunipola will miss England's Six Nations meeting with Wales on Saturday as he is self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak after flying back from Tonga.
Vunipola missed the victory over Ireland 10 days ago to attend a family issue in Tonga, with head coach Eddie Jones saying he did not expect him back for the Wales game.
On Monday morning, however, Vunipola was surprisingly named in the squad for the Twickenham fixture.
It has now emerged, though, that Vunipola never came into camp on Monday ahead of training on Tuesday morning, after the RFU realised the route home he had taken – understood to be via Hong Kong.
Hong Kong confirmed its first case of coronavirus on 23 January and has been affected by the illness.
“Mako is not in camp on medical grounds. He is not sick, but it is a precaution,” said an RFU spokesperson of Vunipola’s issue.
The Six Nations has already seen Ireland’s game with Italy on Saturday cancelled due to coronavirus, with the Irish government unhappy due to the outbreak in northern Italy.
There also remains doubt over whether England’s game in Rome on March 14 will go ahead.
Either way, it seems certain that Vunipola will not be involved again in the camp, with those in self-isolation advised to remain there for 14 days.
The UK has so far had 51 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
