i oppolozize if you know this about England Rugby, aIn the latest embarrassing incident to hit the England World Cup team, gap-year student Annabel Newton said she was humiliated.
Annabel, 23, said she was called into the room at the team hotel to get her walkie-talkie, which had been pinched. There she found James Haskell, Dylan Hartley, and yesterday’s try-scoring hero Chris Ashton.
She says while one player filmed her on a video camera, Haskell shouted he wanted an “Aussie kiss”. When she asked what that was he said it was a “blow job Down Under”.
“I was a joke to them,” said Annabel. “Afterwards they couldn’t understand what they did wrong. Those players treated me with no respect.”
The players emphatically deny any wrong-doing, and *insist she appeared relaxed in their company. Sources close to the three say in the video – part of a tour diary – she doesn’t look *concerned.
“At the time the three thought it was light-hearted banter but when they found out how Annabel felt about it they agreed to apologise,” said a source.
Another source said: “Haskell’s *behaviour was juvenile. He organised taking her walkie-talkie and getting her up to his room. He was the ringleader – responsible for the silly taunting.”
But Annabel says she went along with the banter because she was embarrassed. She reported the incident tearfully to hotel management and says England boss Martin Johnson offered to get the three to say sorry.
But when she met the three later she was unhappy and felt it was a “half-hearted” apology. Her lawyer entered into talks with England’s legal team.
The incident, two days before Zara Phillips’ husband Mike Tindall was caught on CCTV kissing and hugging a blonde during a drunken night out, is another blow to the reputation of England, who beat Scotland to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals yesterday.
But Annabel’s account of the incident on September 9 again calls into question players’ behaviour off the pitch.
She was a “conference attendant”, helping to look after the team, making sure they had all their meals and dealt with any specific requests. She says the players regularly joked with her about her walkie-talkie, stealing it and radioing in that they had taken her hostage.
Last edited by Burrell01 : 12-20-2011 at 05:24 AM.
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