Trouble for trio after what goes on tour doesn't stay on tour (From Your Local Guardian)

Trouble for trio after what goes on tour doesn't stay on tour

2:16pm Friday 27th June 2008

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Sex and booze go hand in hand with every amateur end-of-season sports tour and the past 12 days have shown that rugby is still coming to terms with professionalism.

We must assume the three Harlequins players implicated in the events that followed England's first Test defeat to New Zealand in Auckland earlier this month have done nothing illegal.

Single young men having a good time with women prepared to accommodate them is nothing new. You only have to be out in Richmond on a Saturday night to know that.

When rampant rabbit' David Strettle spent the evening with a fellow young blonde, he wasn't to know he would feature in a News of the World kiss'n'tell... he isn't the first and won't be the last.

The only mistake he, Mike Brown and Danny Care have made - as far as we can tell - is to get caught with their trousers round ankles. It is not as if they were out drinking the night before a game.

The trio previously boasted unblemished reputations as rugby professionals under the watchful eye of Quins director of rugby Dean Richards.

So, perhaps it is the England management who should take most of the blame.

Summer tours to the southern hemisphere are part of the process that brings the likes of the All Blacks to Twickenham in autumn.

This one - with a host of experienced names missing - has felt like an end-of-season blow-out. Time for a rethink.

When you pick a squad of impressionable youngsters you must accept that, without clear guidelines and leadership, this was an accident waiting to happen.

Why is it only now a players' code of conduct is being discussed for when they are on England duty?

The RFU's wall of silence has been deafening, while a cloud of suspicion has hung over the entire touring party, causing unnecessary heartache for the loved ones of those not involved.

The RFU is still to confirm or deny the identity of the players, while reportedly stopping those concerned from clearing their names for fear of risking their futures.

New Zealand police are yet to receive a formal complaint regarding the incident and, almost two weeks on, this seems increasingly unlikely.

Perhaps the harshest lesson for the players involved is finding out that what goes on an England tour certainly does not stay on an England tour.