Johnson has no regrets over night out

ENGLAND manager Martin Johnson insists he would not start locking his team in their hotel following reports about a night out in Queenstown.

Johnson gave his squad time off to have a drink and “relieve the pressure” of the World Cup last Sunday night after Mike Tindall had captained England to a 13-9 victory over Argentina.

Some of the squad visited a bar which was hosting a “Mad Midget Weekender”. Johnson stated before the team left for New Zealand that he would not be imposing drinking bans on the squad, and stuck by that decision yesterday.

“You have got to relieve the pressure and let off steam at the right time. It was a good idea,” Johnson said.

“In the pressure of the World Cup you have got to find the opportunity to do things like that, enjoy yourself and let off a bit of steam. I had no problem with them doing that. We all know when you have a rugby team that part of it is the bonding off the field. I don’t (feel my trust has been betrayed). We knew they were going out to have a few beers.”

Johnson confirmed there would be no disciplinary action arising from the night out.

“If there is a complaint and someone says one of your players has acted inappropriately then we will act on it, but the manager of the bar says the England players’ behaviour was perfectly acceptable all through the evening,” Johnson added.

Johnson revealed the players held a meeting to discuss the situation and are “fully aware of their responsibilities” in the modern world of camera phones.

“That is the world we live in at the moment. I had 50 photographs myself in Queenstown yesterday,” Johnson said.

“Maybe you underestimate what it is like in this country. Other teams had done the same thing in the same town. If we get away from having that in the Rugby World Cup then I don’t think that is for the best.

“We have been out and about in Queenstown. We went out for dinner last night. If we get to the point you can’t go out because someone is going to film you and point the finger at you, it is a pretty sad place.”

Johnson believes the situation will make his players more determined as they head into tomorrow’s game against Georgia and the rest of the tournament.

ENGLAND (Pool B v Georgia, tomorrow, 7am)

B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (do.), M Tuilagi (Leicester), S Hape (London Irish), D Armitage (do.); T Flood (Leicester), B Youngs (do.); M Stevens (Saracens), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), S Shaw (unatt) T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton), L Moody (Bath, capt), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: S Thompson (Wasps), A Corbisiero (London Irish), T Croft (Leicester Tigers), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams), J Simpson (Wasps), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath).