Tindall fined and dropped by England

Mike Tindall has been removed from England’s elite player squad and fined £25,000 (€29,000) following events in New Zealand during the recent World Cup campaign.

The Rugby Football Union has also announced £5,000 suspended fines for wing Chris Ashton and back-row forward James Haskell and warned them about their future conduct.

Hooker Dylan Hartley, though, has been cleared.

England crashed out of the tournament against France in the quarter-finals after a tournament dominated by their off-field issues.

Today's developments would appear to spell the end of Tindall's England career.

The 33-year-old Yorkshireman has won more than 70 caps, captained his country and featured in the 2003 World Cup-winning squad. Earlier this year, he married the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips.

Tindall was pictured with a woman at a bar in Queenstown, and then later admitted misleading England management about events during the evening.

England manager Martin Johnson then had to reprimand three players – Haskell, Ashton and Hartley – later in the trip for making inappropriate comments to a female hotel worker in Dunedin.

The trio were forced to formally apologise.

The players have a right of appeal within three working days from today.