British border officials were understood to have shown no willingness to bend the rules despite the circumstances, according to Agence France-Presse.
A source said: “The English authorities don’t want to hear anything about it.
“We’ve told them that these are top-level athletes, including a well-known French international, who came to play a European Rugby Cup match, but they are inflexible.”
The ETA system requires eligible travellers to obtain digital clearance before arriving in the UK, and authorities have declined to grant any exemption regardless of the players’ high-profile status or the urgency of the fixture.
