When Mathieu Bastareaud, the France rugby union international, said he had been beaten up by thugs after a Test match defeat in New Zealand last Saturday, there was outrage in Paris and embarrassment in Wellington.

French officials denounced anti-Gallic sentiment in the land of the All Blacks and their New Zealand counterparts expressed shame over what threatened to become a diplomatic incident.

Yesterday, however, the tables turned when it emerged that the 20-year-old centre had lied. In a statement, he said he had returned to his hotel in Wellington drunk, fallen over in his room and hit his head on a table. “I was ashamed and panicked. I thought I would be sent packing by the team management,” he admitted.

The confession came after police found a video showing he had returned to his hotel at 5.22am with two team-mates and two women, but without any of the cuts and bruises seen on his face the following morning.

Simon Barnes: my perfect weekend

The Times columnist calls Andy Murray a thing of menace and beauty and fears the worst for the Lions in Pretoria

• Simon Barnes: my perfect weekend

• Simon Barnes: My perfect weekend

• Simon Barnes: My Perfect Weekend

World in motion: Pacquiao a special kind of person

The boxer shows himself to be a humanitarian after bombing and the would-be politican carries clout in and out of the ring

• World in Motion: Eight changes that Ian McGeechan must consider for Lions Test

• World in Motion: will Kim join North Korea squad?

• World in Motion: David Campese shows he still has loudmouth tendencies

Related Links

• France centre admits making up 'assault’

However, L’Equipe, the French sporting daily paper, doubted the confession, wondering how the player, who weighs 111kg (17½st), could have been “beaten black and blue” by a bedside table. “Difficult to believe,” it wrote.