Three England rugby players were ordered to apologise to a female hotel worker for 'lewd' comments they made to her, it emerged today.
James Haskell, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton said sorry to 23-year-old Annabel Newton after she complained about their crude banter.
England rugby manager Martin Johnson has reprimanded the players for their conduct and left them in 'no doubt' about his anger.
According to the Sunday Mirror, Ms Newton said the men 'treated me with no respect' after she was called into a hotel room to retrieve her walkie-talkie.
Addressing the allegations over player conduct in the team hotel, Johnson said: 'I was angry with them. It is just the sort of thing we have talked about.
'What they thought was humour and a light-hearted exchange has clearly not been taken that way by Annabel, the girl involved.
'At the time they apologised when they realised they had stepped over the mark. They had no idea how upset she subsequently became.
'We were in Queenstown for a few days. When we returned I spoke to the hotel manager, apologised to him for the disturbance we had caused to him and his staff.
'The guys formally apologised. They were shocked when they understood how upset she had become.
'We investigated the facts fully. They have been disciplined. They have been reprimanded for their behaviour and left in no doubt.
'If you leave yourself open for these headlines to be written it drags us all into it and that is what makes me particularly angry."
The incident reportedly occurred in the days before England moved from Dunedin to Queenstown, where a number of players enjoyed a night out, which also hit the headlines.-2nd October 2011