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Note: This article is from the Guardian.

This article titled “Mike Tindall fined £25,000 and thrown out of England squad by RFU” was written by Robert Kitson, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 11th November 2011 11.11 UTC

Mike Tindall’s England career appears to be over after he was thrown out of England’s elite player squad and fined £25,000 by the Rugby Football Union, following events in Queenstown during the World Cup. James Haskell and Chris Ashton have been handed suspended fines of £5,000 and warned about their future conduct, following an alleged incident in a hotel in Dunedin. The Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Tindall, who has said he will appeal the decision, was the subject of extensive press attention after a night out at the Altitude Bar in Queenstown, after England’s 13-9 win over Argentina. CCTV footage from the bar showed Tindall, who is married to Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, in conversation with an unnamed blonde woman.

The 33-year-old Gloucester centre has won 75 caps since making his England debut in 2000, scoring 14 tries. He was part of the 2003 World Cup-winning team.

The punishment handed down to Tindall is unprecedented. An RFU investigation conducted by Rob Andrew, the professional rugby director, and the legal and governance director, Kerena Vleck, found the Gloucester centre had been guilty of “unacceptable” behaviour.

Andrew said: “We have considered all the evidence carefully and interviewed the players at length. These actions have not been taken lightly but we believe that in all these cases the sanctions are commensurate with the level of seriousness of what occurred.

“Mike Tindall’s actions reached a level of misconduct that was unacceptable in a senior England player and amounted to a very serious breach of the EPS Code of Conduct. Whilst we acknowledge his previous good character it needs to be made clear that what he did will not be tolerated.

“Regarding the events in Dunedin, it should be stressed that the allegations of very serious wrong-doing made against Chris Ashton, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell by Annabel Newton, a member of staff at the team hotel, were entirely false. We do not believe the players had any intention to sexually harass or intimidate Ms Newton.

“However, the incident is precisely the kind of dangerous, compromising situation the players were warned about prior to departure for New Zealand and that they were specifically told to avoid in the EPS Code of Conduct. While we found that Dylan Hartley played no part in the ill-considered exchange with Annabel Newton, Chris Ashton and James Haskell’s behaviour on 9 September did breach the EPS Code of Conduct and they have each been given suspended fines of £5,000. If they commit any further breaches of the Code before 31 December 2012 the fines will become due.

“Finally, these episodes and the subsequent disciplinary action should stand as a strong reminder that the highest standards of personal conduct are expected from any England player on and off the field.”

The players have the right to appeal to the RFU acting chief executive, Martyn Thomas, within three working days.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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Note: This article is from the Guardian.

This article titled “Mike Tindall says he will not give up England career without a fight” was written by Mike Averis, for The Guardian on Friday 11th November 2011 19.04 UTC

Mike Tindall warned Twickenham on Friday night that he would not allow them to end his England career without a fight and will appeal against the decision to fine him £25,000 and throw him out of the Elite Player Squad.

In a two-sentence statement the players’ union, the Rugby Players Association, said it had “noted the extraordinary fine handed down following the disciplinary process after the Rugby World Cup. Mike will be appealing [against] this unprecedented fine as per the terms of the EPS [elite player squad] agreement.”

Earlier, in a statement which administered a further buffeting to Martin Johnson’s tenure as England manager, the Rugby Football Union branded Tindall’s conduct in New Zealand as unacceptable in a senior England player and in breach of the tour agreement signed before the World Cup.

The RFU’s professional rugby director, Rob Andrew, and the legal and governance director, Karena Vleck, had taken evidence about the 33-year-old’s behaviour with a blonde in the now infamous Altitude Bar in Queenstown the day after England’s opening match against Argentina.

Tindall was Johnson’s captain in that game and the manager’s credibility is further damaged by £5,000 fines, suspended for a year, imposed on James Haskell and Chris Ashton, for behaviour involving a hotel worker in Dunedin. A fourth player, Dylan Hartley, the Northampton captain, was cleared of being involved with Haskell and Ashton but Friday’s ruling compounded Johnson’s difficulties on the field after he had gone on record as saying he trusted his players, intended to treat them as grown-ups and would not employ curfews or any other restrictions on their movements.

Andrew is also reviewing England’s performance in New Zealand before reporting to the Professional Game Board, which will decide whether Johnson should keep his job, if he wishes to. So far Johnson has not told Twickenham whether he wants to stay on and is known to have been particularly hurt by Tindall’s behaviour and the need to stand by his vice-captain and fellow World Cup winner from 2003 when it became clear that the Gloucester player had not told the whole story.

Tindall, who has 75 caps, initially said that he had returned to the team hotel after leaving the Altitude bar but changed his story when further footage emerged of him at another bar later in the evening. Johnson defended Tindall, saying that the player had made an “innocent mistake”, but it transpired that the blonde was a former girlfriend from Tindall’s time at Bath.

In a strong statement, Andrew said: “Mike Tindall’s actions reached a level of misconduct that was unacceptable in a senior England player and amounted to a very serious breach of the EPS code of conduct. While we acknowledge his previous good character, it needs to be made clear that what he did will not be tolerated.

“Regarding the events in Dunedin, it should be stressed that the allegations of very serious wrongdoing made against Chris Ashton, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell by Annabel Newton, a member of staff at the team hotel, were entirely false. We do not believe the players had any intention to sexually harass or intimidate Ms Newton. However, the incident is precisely the kind of dangerous, compromising situation the players were warned about prior to departure for New Zealand and that they were specifically told to avoid in the EPS code of conduct.”

“Rugby player drinks beer shocker” was how Johnson initially greeted inquiries when the Queenstown news broke but, after the mayhem of the past few weeks, Twickenham has found an issue into which it can get its teeth, even if another of Tindall’s former team-mates is less than impressed.

Austin Healey, once of Leicester and now of ESPN, accused Andrew of self-interest. Healey tweeted: “25k fine is wrong. Tindall has been made a scapegoat.. he set bad example but … Andrew trying to justify his position.”

England’s exit in the quarter-finals was their worst World Cup performance in 12 years but it was being let down by his players which has angered Johnson most, particularly when one of them – Tindall – had only just married the Queen’s granddaughter at a ceremony attended by a large number of England players and coaches.

There is also the issue of players ignoring repeated warnings after the experiences of 2008, when four of the England squad were accused of rape after a night in an Auckland bar. An inquiry cleared all four but threw up grounds to suggest that England players in particular were at risk, as Jonny Wilkinson suggested on Friday. “I think there’s always going to be people out there to get you and make things worse for you,” said England’s fly-half, who described Tindall as “a great, great guy and player”.

Andrew’s words were in marked contrast to a more relaxed approach in 2008 when, although the squad was selected by Johnson, Andrew managed the tour in his absence. However, with no one’s job currently safe at Twickenham, the call for more discipline is understandable.

“These episodes and the subsequent disciplinary action should stand as a strong reminder that the highest standards of personal conduct are expected from any England player on and off the field,” said Andrew.

Haskell and Ashton have until Tuesday to appeal. Representatives of Haskell declined to comment.

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