‘Pack of lies’: England rugby star accused of sexual assault during New Zealand tour

The experienced England halfback was one of four players investigated by police. Allegation of sexual assault against young woman who met team members In the hours after the test loss to the All Blacks in Auckland in 2008.

No charges were laid and all of the players denied any wrongdoing.

An investigation by the Rugby Football Union later found the two men guilty of misconduct; one for being late and the other for missing a rehab session. While another was warned of the dangers of putting himself in a potentially dangerous situation, Care was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Now in your new book Everything Happens for a Reason: My Life in Rugby – Published in the UK on Thursday – Care wrote of the shock of being sidelined with three teammates when the team touched down in Christchurch on the tour’s next stop.

Care wrote that he “wondered what was going on” when he saw a “gang of police officers” standing in the arrival area.

The four were then “stepped aside, pulled into a room and informed that someone had made a very serious allegation of sexual assault”.

“Even though I knew I had done nothing wrong, it was like all the blood had drained from my body,” Care wrote. everything happens for a reason.

“I was at such a high level after making my England debut and now this is happening. Talk about hitting the earth with a thud.

“When the police spoke to me alone, he told me that the girl accused two boys of sexually assaulting her while two other boys watched.”

Care told police he saw the girl when he entered his teammate’s hotel room the next morning. Eden Park testthen “when he appeared in the lobby”.

“I left that meeting thinking it was all nonsense.

“I thought, ‘None of us did anything wrong, so everything will be okay,’ which is what a naive 21-year-old would think.”

Care said it was decided that the names of the players allegedly involved would not be made public ahead of the second test, which Care started and England lost 42-12.

In the build-up to the Test, RFU director Rob Andrew, who served as head coach on Martin Johnson’s tour, addressed the media and said the team would assist the police investigation.

No one from the gaming unit has responded to the allegations.

“And although it was quickly established that the girl’s story was a pack of lies and the RFU was confident that no charges would be brought against us, inevitably our names were leaked following the second test,” he wrote.

A tabloid published an article calling the group the “Auckland Four”.

“I wish I could talk to the media and explain what was going on,” Care wrote. everything happens for a reason.

“It was a terrible situation.

“Before the Sun published its story, management told me my name would be released, which they had previously said I would not do.

“So I had to make a heartbreaking phone call to my mother and explain that I was about to be accused of sexual assault in a national newspaper. She believed me when I told her I had done nothing wrong, but her life was turned upside down and she was very worried.

“Hearing him so upset was probably the worst part of the whole episode.”

The case against the England players was later dropped without a formal complaint being lodged.

But consequences continued for some players linked to the allegations.

The RFU investigation found Mike Brown and Topsy Ojo guilty of misconduct; Brown was fined for missing a rehab appointment and Tojo was fined for staying out until 7 a.m.

David Strettle was explained the potential dangers of being caught in a challenging situation. And Care was found not guilty of any wrongdoing.

RFU disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett said at the announcement of his investigation: “I am confident that lessons have been learned and players will realize that they must be extremely careful in future to avoid opening their personal lives to public scrutiny in this way.”

Ojo never played for England again.

“For me and many other players, this tour was a crash course in what it takes to compete at the highest level,” Care wrote. everything happens for a reasonPublished by Ebury Spotlight.

“In short, Black people always punished us when we made mistakes.

“But the most traumatic lesson on that tour wasn’t delivered by Carter and his friends, it was delivered by the media and had nothing to do with what happened on the field.”

Maintenance had done what he did UK debut He came off the bench in England’s 37-20 first Test defeat at Eden Park.

He later wrote about how he was presented with the Test cap before being “gorged on booze” on the team bus on the way back to their hotel.

“Then we went into town, drank even more, and I went home with a girl, which was a lot earlier than most of my teammates because I had had a few beers.”

The woman Care returned to the hotel with was not the person who later went to the police.

When he arrived for his scheduled team rehabilitation session the next morning, he had no idea of ​​the scandal that would engulf the England squad.

“Everyone looked like they had a good time; lots of drinking, lots of fun, nothing illegal,” Care wrote. “I didn’t think much about it until I got off the plane in Christchurch and attacked a group of police officers.”

Scoring his first try in the opening match of England’s 2008 tour from hell to New Zealand wasn’t the only first for Care.

At the same time He faced the haka for the first time in his career.

And Care, who played in 101 tests for England before announcing his international retirement earlier this year, explains: everything happens for a reason Standing on the lawns of Eden Park and watching the haka was something that will stay with him forever.

“The next thing I remember, I was standing on the field watching the All Blacks do the haka, with Nonu, Carter, McCaw and the rest shouting at me with their eyeballs fixed on the stalks,” he wrote in his book.

“Whenever I saw the All Blacks doing the haka on TV I thought it was amazing; just a pinch of culture.

“But now I was experiencing it from a few feet away and thought, ‘Why are they allowed to do this? They look like they want to tear our heads off and we haven’t done anything wrong. We just came here to play rugby against them. This is ridiculous. ‘What am I doing here?’

“Players often claim that the haka doesn’t bother them, but they say that, right? “I don’t mind admitting that this puts the fear of God in me.”

Perfectly Rugby World Cup It was a dream for Care.

In 2011, he was brutally eliminated from the selection race due to injury in the tournament hosted by New Zealand.

He played a test in the pool play phase of the 2015 tournament; By then England were already out of contention to reach the quarter-finals.

Four years later, he was optimistic that he would be among England’s three halfbacks chosen by the brash Australian coach Eddie Jones.

However, during a one-on-one conversation with him, he revealed that the writing was on the wall for him. Jones – currently coaching Japan – and said he was thinking about halftime until five.

“Then he said, ‘Willi’s in the mix too,'” Care wrote. everything happens for a reason.

‘Willi who?’ I asked. “Willi Heinz, man,” Eddie said. ‘Oh’ I said. This is how our meeting ended.”

Christchurch-born Heinz debuted for the Crusaders in 2010but he would move to England five years later.

He qualified for England through his English grandmother, an eligibility rule that angered Care.

“I came out of that meeting feeling quite upset. I just wanted to play for England; “This has been my dream since I started playing the game seriously,” he wrote.

“I have given blood, sweat and tears for the England team for over a decade. And now Eddie was thinking about a lad who spent the first 26 years of his life in New Zealand and dreamed of playing for the All Blacks.”

Jones later called Care while the experienced playmaker was on holiday to tell him he was “going in another direction” and that Care would not be included in the Rugby World Cup squad.

he trusted everything happens for a reason He was “at a loss for words” when he later learned that Heinz had been picked from where he was chasing.

He said he had nothing personal against Heinz but believed he was a better player than the Kiwi.

He said other British-born halfbacks who gave their all from a young age in the country but missed out on selection “deserved it more than Willi”.

“I didn’t dare watch any snooker matches and was secretly hoping that Willie Heinz would play a late role and suffer a minor injury,” Care wrote.

“Nothing serious honestly, maybe just a dead leg or a bad hamstring. Terrible, I know.”

Neil Reid He is a senior reporter based in Napier, covering general news, news and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.

Subscribe to The Daily HA free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.