English rugby players are largely naive, which is why they cannot beat a southern hemisphere team. Their tour management was equally naive, in the person of Rob Andrew.
It would be good to see the drinkers and shaggers weeded out of the elite squad. England deserves professionals to represent it.

Tony Gold, London,

English rugby has been in the doldrums of confusion and ineptitude this year. The incident in N.Z will add to the impression that the management is also incapable and lacking in shrewd judgement. Andrews is proving to be a handicap.

David Vernon Goddard, Limoges, France

I' m disappointed to read that touring Rugby teams nowadays have little interaction with the locals. I still vividly remember the 1959 Lions tour of New Zealand, and the lengthy visit to my school by Tony O'Reilly, the great Irish winger who went on to become the president of Heinz.

Stefan Mochnacki, Toronto, Canada

The Pro game and lurid allegations such as the current issue have killed touring for what it used to be. Global kiss and tell and wannabee celebs utilising young players is nothing new, but much more common that 20 years ago. I hope the lads are given an opportunity to publicly tell the truth.

Bob, Chelmsford,

The allegations concerning the 4 players are a shock, any behavior reflecting the reports needs to be punished. If Cipriani was dropped then these 4 stupid, ungentlemanly men who think they can still pull on the England shirt need to be taught a lesson, or English Rugby has let itself down.

Andrew Orbell, Oxted,

i was delighted with the social attitude and interaction of the players on Lions05 tour. From the first week to the last, every night post game we saw many members of the squad, numerous times drinking and socialising with both sets of supporters, they were not uptight or misbehaving. A pleasure.

Gav, Birmingham, UK

To Arthur London
It appears the chip on your shoulder has grown considerably after another dour England performance

Gareth Williams, Powys,

A recent highly publicised case regarding older men having group sex with a young woman showed juries here consider the power relationship around consent. A group of men including policemen were found guilty of rape and are in jail. Not saying no isn't consenting.

Harry Gordon, Nelson, New Zealand

To Jason. NZ....
The NZ Press response to the current situation with the England tour party is the same response coming from the UK Press.
It seems you have not been reading all the articals at present concerning the situation, how selective of you.

May the best team win on Saturday

Micha, Palmerston North, New Zealand

there is no modern rugby tourist because there are no longer any rugby tours- with the exception of the lions.

dorisday, bath,

As an Englishman living in New Zealand, the response of the NZ press to the current situation with the tour party is not unusual. I doubt, however, that the shocking stories which emerge regularly from the NRL feature at all in the UK press. It's a case of the 'empire striking back' me thinks.

Jason, Orewa, NZ

What a dour lot the old NZ fans are.They take themselves and their national sport far too seriously. Amusing to watch the chip on their shoulder grow ever bigger as they choke at every world cup. I sat behind some NZ fans at Twickernam 2 seasons ago and even though they were winning they had banter.

Arthur, London,

I feel sorry for the players as it is the english press driving negative sentiment towards their own national team.

The public backlash in NZ, SA, Aust towards the english team springs not from colonialism or rugby history but continuous mean spirited sniping and criticisms from the english press

DaveMc, Nice, France

Indeed, a good article.

However, I know the stereotype is that everyone in NZ is mad about rugby, the fact is alot of people couldnt care less.

Most of my mates also think most people that call Radio Sport are absolute twits, so I wouldnt pay a huge amount of attention to what they say.

Matthew K, London, UK

I think the 05 lions tour was a great sucess in terms of the supporters who travelled out here. I don't remember too many dramas. The lions supporters were warmly welcomed wherever they went and kiwi's reciprocated with good humour and hospitality.Sir Clive and Ali were another story.

Adrian, Wanganui, NZ

Tony, I have to agree with you concerning the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand. SCW and his spin doctor Alistar Campbell were not good for the team in the PR department.

Micha, Palmerston North, New Zealand

At least the English side appear to be scoring off he field!

Lame quips aside, his story greatly saddens me. It reminds me of when some members of the Hurricanes were wrongly accused in SA a few years ago. I hope for those concerned that this is the case here.

Philip, Wellington, NZ

Nice article. As a kiwi I was gutted that the 05 Lions weren't able to mingle more with the NZ public. SCW and Alistair Campbell were the worst for Lions PR and we didnt get to know the players. It wasn't like that in the past - on one tour werent the Lions even billeted out with local families?!

Tony Clements, London, UK