England, haunted by lurid sex scandal claims and savaged by the All Blacks, can expect no respite when they limp home from their tour of New Zealand today. After days of speculation, it is now believed that as many as eight players were involved in two separate incidents at the team hotel, the Hilton, after last weekend’s first Test defeat in Auckland.

One of the incidents led to a police investigation into allegations that four players were involved in a sexual assault, an accusation denied by the England camp. Yesterday morning Auckland police confirmed that no complaint has been made and that no player will be prevented from flying home.

However, all those involved can expect to be questioned by the RFU’s disciplinary officer, Judge Jeff Blackett, on their return, Last night David Strettle, who played in the first Test but missed yesterday’s game, became the first player to be identified publicly.

In an interview with the News of the World, Sophie Lewis, also known as ‘Angel’, alleged that she had spent the night with the winger, after meeting him at the Pony Club in the early hours of last Sunday morning. In Auckland, meanwhile, the Sunday Star Times was reporting that another woman believed to have made an allegation of rape against two players had sought medical treatment after leaving the hotel last Sunday. She then went to the police later that day.

Whatever the outcome of Judge Blackett’s own inquiry, there are those who believe that English rugby’s image has already been tarnished. Dick Best, a former England Grand Slam coach, has criticised Rob Andrew, the caretaker tour manager, for failing to ensure that the squad - which included a number of young players - understood the pitfalls of overseas tours. Best said that the team protocols needed to be spelt out.

“Clearly this has not happened and for that I blame Andrew,” he said. Asked last night about about his future in the England set-up, Andrew, who stepped in as team manager after Martin Johnson stayed at home for the birth of his second child, said: “I will not be resigning. We will be going back to learn the lessons of this trip.”

RFU chief executive Francis Baron, mindful of the damage such adverse publicity could have, has promised that the squad code of conduct will be overhauled. Central to his concern is the issue of players taking women back to their rooms. Up to half a dozen women are believed to have been asked back to the Hilton last Saturday night.

“The code of conduct has never specifically dealt with that,” Baron said. “Talking with my colleagues in the New Zealand Rugby Union, who have had incidents like this in the past, they have moved to a much more prescriptive code of conduct about women being allowed into the team hotel. This is the first time the England team has got into this position. It is distressing to everybody involved. In a way it makes us determined to do whatever we can to ensure such a set of circumstances never happens again.”

England’s dismal tour ended on a low with a 44-12 defeat to the All Blacks in the second Test in Christchurch yesterday morning.