Tindall Fined £25,000 Over World Cup Antics

Mike Tindall has been fined £25,000 and kicked out of England's elite rugby union squad over events during the World Cup in New Zealand.

The large penalty handed out by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) appears to spell the end of the former England captain's international career.

Tindall, 33, who married Zara Phillips in July, was pictured with a blonde woman at a bar in Queenstown during a night out after a game.

The player appeared to be holding the woman's hand before being hugged by her and kissed on the top of his head.

The footage, which was posted online, showed the pair outside the bar where Tindall had his arm wrapped around the blonde.

He later admitted misleading England management about events during the evening by saying he had returned to the team hotel when in fact they went to a second bar.

Zara flew out to New Zealand to join her new husband after the incident but the team crashed out of the tournament in the quarter finals.

Tindall and three other players caught up in controversies during the tournament appeared before RFU professional rugby director Rob Andrew and its legal and governance director Karena Vleck.

Andrew said: "Mike Tindall's actions reached a level of misconduct that was unacceptable in a senior England player and amounted to a very serious breach of the EPS (elite player squad) code of conduct.

"While we acknowledge his previous good character, it needs to be made clear that what he did will not be tolerated."

Fellow players Chris Ashton and James Haskell were also warned about their conduct and given £5,000 fines, suspended until December 2012, over inappropriate comments made to a female hotel worker in Dunedin.

They will become payable if there are any other breaches of the game's code of conduct before the end of next year. A third player, Dylan Hartley, was cleared.

The players can lodge an appeal against the sanctions over the next three working days.

Andrew insisted: "These actions have not been taken lightly, but we believe that in all these cases the sanctions are commensurate with the level of seriousness of what occurred."

He added: "These episodes and the subsequent disciplinary action should stand as a strong reminder that the highest standards of personal conduct are expected from any England player on and off the field."

Tindall, who plays for Gloucester, has won more than 70 caps, captained his country and was part of the 2003 World Cup-winning squad.

But this is not his first slip-up. He was banned from driving for three years in 2009 for being caught over the drink-drive limit on his way to commentate on an England game at Twickenham.

He had spent the previous day at the races in Cheltenham with Zara and had drunk beer, champagne and vodka throughout the day.