New Zealand: No official complaint on English rugby players

New Zealand police today admitted they were powerless to investigate sex attack allegations made against four England rugby players unless the woman involved gives an official statement.

The players, who were preparing to play the All Blacks this morning, have refused to speak to detectives after taking legal advice.

They have vigorously denied the allegations.

Today, Auckland Police confirmed the four are free to leave the country even though authorities are investigating claims of sexual assault or rape, reportedly on an 18-year-old woman at a hotel in the city last weekend after a tour match.

Reports claim two of the men had sex with the woman while two others watched.

One of the men accused of watching the alleged assault had sex with a blonde model on the same night, a newspaper reported.

A police spokeswoman said the victim had made the allegations to police herself, but had not yet made a formal complaint.

She said the sportsmen could not be prevented from leaving the country tomorrow with the rest of the England squad in the absence of a formal complaint.

“At this stage it remains an allegation. If that changes then police could ask again to talk to the people involved,” she said, adding police could seek to have the men extradited to New Zealand if a case was established against them.

“Police could (extradite them), but whether they would do it I can’t say. At this stage there is no reason to.”

In response to the scandal, England rugby bosses yesterday announced a new set of standards for the players – including a clause preventing them bringing women back to the team hotel.

The rules will come into force when the players sign new contracts on July 1.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) was said to be increasingly concerned about the harm police investigations were doing to the reputation of the international side.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said yesterday: “It is distressing to everybody involved in rugby.

“In a way it makes us absolutely determined to do whatever we can to ensure such a set of circumstances never happens again for future generations of players.

“Clearly we have got to get across to these young men, who are now very high-profile individuals, that they are targets for people to use.

“This is the first time the England rugby team has got into this position.

“They have to be so careful, so conscious of what they do going forward. Working with the Premiership clubs we have to educate our young men for the realities of the new world of celebrity they face so we minimise the risk going forward of any of our young boys getting involved in an incident like this.”

Previously, Mr Baron described the allegations against the players as “lurid”.

“The boys have totally denied them,” he added. “In our view, those boys are innocent until proven otherwise.

“I know the boys are very upset and very frustrated they can’t clear their names as soon as possible.”

A group of players had taken six women back to the Hilton Hotel in Auckland from a bar where they were drinking after the team’s defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, reports said.

Blonde model Sophie Lewis told The Sun she had sex with one of the players being investigated on the night of the alleged assault.

The 22-year-old said she met him in the Pony Club while she was dressed in an Alice in Wonderland costume.

She told the paper: “I think it was my Alice in Wonderland costume that caught his eye.

“He even called me Alice when we first met. He wasn’t flash or arrogant. He’s very handsome and was a smoothie, a real charmer.”