Moody denies charges

Lewis Moody London - Arabstoday   Lewis Moody has vigorously defended his role as England captain as the players' damning verdict of the shambolic World Cup was laid bare. Former skipper Moody, who retired from internationals after their limp quarter-final exit to France, came under-fire for his apparent failure to control the players during their scandal-packed visit to New Zealand. In the reports, both players and Rugby Football Union officials accused certain members of Martin Johnson's 30-man squad of being more interested in 'getting cash and caps than about getting better on the pitch'. But Moody hit back in a statement that read: 'Once again it is deeply disappointing to see players’ feedback aimed at improving England rugby, and which we were promised would remain confidential and anonymous, being put in the public domain for political purposes. 'I have particularly seen those stories about me personally and wanted to comment. Captaining England was, and remains, the ultimate honour for me and I accepted that honour knowing all the scrutiny that came with it. 'I am confident I did the job to the absolute best of my ability but if some of the players thought that was not enough I will have to learn to live with that. 'I have always been my own fiercest critic and have already been honest that there were some things I wish I had done differently at the World Cup, but I have learnt from the experience and hope others can do the same. 'I put my body on the line for the lads, the team and England every time I played and anyone who has watched me play knows that I give everything on the field and have always prioritised rugby ahead of everything else, including financial reward. 'I have only ever undertaken personal commercial activities in my own time and I’m comfortable I got that balance right at all times. Where I had to be involved in commercial conversations with the RFU it was as captain, working with the RPA, representing the best interests of the players, not for any personal gain. I do not think anyone who knows me would think differently. 'The next few months will be vital for the English rugby and I hope the opportunity is seized to use player feedback for positive change not negative recriminations and political games. 'I have retired from England and am now focussed on Bath Rugby and playing my rugby in the same way I always have with passion and commitment. It is time we looked forward not back.' Three reviews were undertaken by Rob Andrew, the RFU's director of elite rugby, the players' union and professional clubs and were not intended to be seen by the public. However, the details - which were not meant to be seen by the public - reveal schisms in the squad, with various individuals more concerned with money than playing for their country. Evidence collated from the Rugby Players' Association - with 90 per cent of the players giving feedback - revealed a charge from one player about a team-mate's reaction to the 12-19 loss to France in the quarter-final. 'There's £35,000 just gone down the toilet,' he said. The accuser replied that the response: 'made me sick. Money shouldn't even come into a player's mind.' RPA chief Damian Hopley has demanded an investigation to track down the source of the leaked confidential World Cup reports. Hopley said: 'I am absolutely devastated that our RPA members' trust has been so publicly betrayed. Players voluntarily took part in these interviews and gave their honest and frank assessment of England's Rugby World Cup campaign. 'The aim was to be completely open and transparent, and players should be respected for refusing to shy away from some of the problems encountered. 'Players were critical of themselves, of the coaching team and of the RFU and its leadership. Their determination was for everyone to be accountable and take responsibility for the disappointing showing in the Rugby World Cup. 'Many comments were understandably robust because they knew England had not performed as they could have and the players are committed to getting things right for the future. 'Our players were assured that their feedback would be totally confidential, and yet no sooner has the report been sent to the Board Members than it appears in a national newspaper. 'If England wants to regain its status as a respected rugby nation, it is imperative that we stop the rot at the top of the game and show some much needed integrity. What example does this set to the game? It is an absolute disgrace. 'It was the lack of faith in the system and process being confidential that saw many players shy away from completing the RFU questionnaires in the first place and, perhaps not surprisingly, their mistrust has been proven to be correct. We cannot ignore that once again there has been a serious breach of confidentiality. We are demanding a detailed investigation to track down the source of the leak and deal appropriately with that person. 'If we are serious about destroying the porous culture in our game, then we need to introduce tougher security measures to weed out these self-serving people once and for all.' It has been confirmed that the England squad held the RFU to ransom before their departure to New Zealand, threatening not to attend the eve-of-departure dinner over a pay dispute. 'It is very disappointing that a senior group, led by Lewis Moody, disputed the level of payment for the World Cup squad, which led to meetings with RFU executives,' Andrew said in a report leaked to the Times. 'I believe this led to a further unsettling of the squad just before departure, which included a threat by the squad not to attend the World Cup send-off dinner at Twickenham. It suggested that some of the senior players were more focused on money than getting the rugby right.' Accusations were made of senior players taking part in drinking games and mocking those who took training seriously. Johnson, who resigned his post last week, came in for criticism for failing to adequately discipline the players involved in the infamous night out in Queenstown, which saw Mike Tindall belatedly fined £25,000. The report makes a series of recommendations - all centred on discipline - including more accountability, a stricter regime and a clear alcohol policy. 'We had meetings where 'values' were discussed but they felt like empty words,' one player said in the report, while another added: 'If it's the senior players leading drinking games or drinking until they can't remember anything, what example are the younger players set?'   It concludes: 'This report is not setting out to absolve the players from making mistakes, as they surely did both on and off the field. In a culture of honesty and success ... players need to accept their shortcomings in what has to be seen as a golden opportunity gone begging.'    The report noted 'a lack of action which reflected his inexperience. Therefore primarily he must bear considerable responsibility for these failures.' A player stated: 'I suppose we just wanted Johnno to have the b******* to take action, especially after the Tindall night. He was too loyal and that was his downfall.' One player lamented the lack of high-level security, saying: 'It was a mistake not to have any security people like in 2003 and 2007,' said one senior player. 'This time we had two old fellas and one guy who was rumoured to have told someone the night out incident in Queenstown involving Tindall would be worth £100,000 from a newspaper.' In the report, another player lays into poor preparation going into the finals in New Zealand. Here are some of the views of the players: 'Pre-season was a f***-up. We would have had a better chance of doing well at the World Cup if we had been allowed to train at our clubs.' 'It wasn't hard, it was just LONG. We felt physically and mentally drained at the end. 'The man-management was absolutely terrible.' 'All the plans we'd worked on for weeks suddenly went out of the window because they didn't happen to work in one game. 'The hotel (Pennyhill Park in Surrey) is lovely but we are rugby players, not hotel guests. The pitch is full of rabbit holes and cuts up too easily.' The entire coaching set-up came under fire in the players' report, except for scrum coach Graham Rowntree.    'They'd had four years to develop a plan for the World Cup and it felt like they were doing it off-the-cuff in New Zealand,' one player said.    'I've never played well in an England shirt,' said another. 'I try my best but I know the game plan doesn't suit me and I'm not confident because I don't believe in what we're following.' The report said: 'It is clear that the environment is vastly different to those at their clubs where players are trusted, assured of ongoing support and have good working relationships with coaches and team mates who share a vision in how they operate and in all aspects of their professional lives. This needs to be urgently addressed.' The publication of the report, and the extent of the problems within English rugby, are likely to do little to help attract a top-notch coach to replace Johnson, who stepped down earlier this month.     New Zealand's World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry earlier this week ruled himself out of the running with Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder tipped by insiders for the job.      Shoddy: Tindall failed to lead Still effectively rudderless at boardroom level, without a national team coach, and now rocked by a series of withering attacks, England will want to move decisively to put its house in order before hosting the next World Cup in 2015. England's World Cup was dogged by incident from the start, with widespread media coverage of a players' night out following a meagre win over Argentina in their opening match. Tindall, who is married to Zara Phillips, was pictured talking to a woman on CCTV footage from Altitude Bar, which was holding a 'Mad Midget Weekender' and was one of a number of squad members who appeared to have drank excessively. His actions later incurred a £25,000 fine and saw him dismissed from the elite player squad - sanctions the centre has appealed. Next, the RFU felt compelled to suspend assistant coach Dave Alred and fitness coach Paul Stridgeon from the match against Scotland after the pair were found to have illegally changed balls during the victory against Romania. Johnson was later forced to express his anger at Chris Ashton and James Haskell for their conduct towards a hotel maid - for which the pair were fined £5,000 at the end of the tournament. Manu Tuilagi, one of the few on-field successes, was another to find trouble, receiving two fines during his time in New Zealand - the first for wearing a sponsored mouthguard and the second for diving off a harboured ferry in Auckland. Although no immediate decisions were taken in the aftermath of the team's exit at the hands of France, Johnson announced his decision to step down as manager on November 16, giving a press conference in which he took responsibility for the team's efforts.