R360: British and Irish Lions join ban on new rugby series
Organisers have also been confident filling out their men's roster, claiming to be close to the 200 names required, with a host of recent and current Test players provisionally committed.However, R360 is yet to secure sanctioning from World Rugby, which wants more details over the staging of the series and the release of players for the international game.England's Emily Scarratt, who retired as the Red Roses' all-time leading points scorer in October and is one of the women's game's most high-profile figures, said she had not had any offer to prolong her career with R360.In the men's game, Sale and England fly-half George Ford turned down an approach, while other reported targets such as 2025 Lions tourists Finn Russell and Fin Smith have also extended their contracts with their existing clubs.Australian rugby league's NRL has moved to retain its own stars by threatening to exile any player who switches to R360 with a 10-year ban from the league.Meanwhile, Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney says he does not know of any England player, male or female, who is planning to sacrifice their Test career for a lucrative stint on the new circuit."I've not heard of one player yet - and that doesn't mean to say that they might be something that I am not aware of - but I haven't heard of an England player, male or female, who has actually signed," he told Rugby Union Weekly."We are not hearing any more on it, we are not getting an awful lot of factual information in terms of what is happening and what is happening next, so I don't spend any time worrying about it. We can't get distracted by things we really don't know enough about."
