26 Nov 2011

England keeping quiet on Tindall appeal

2:42 pm on 26 November 2011

Mike Tindall's appeal against his fine and ejection from the England rugby squad has been moved to a secret location and the result will not be released as expected.

Tindall was fined 25,000 pounds and thrown out of the elite player squad after misleading the Rugby Football Union when it investigated his much-publicised drinking antics in a Queenstown bar during the rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Tindall, 33 and a member of England's victorious 2003 World Cup team, was pictured with a "mystery blonde" in the bar only weeks after his marriage to the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips and afterwards gave conflicting versions of his movements that night.

The centre, who missed England's quarter-final defeat by France, was handed the punishment two weeks ago when the RFU said his actions reached a level of misconduct that was unacceptable in a senior England player.

His appeal against the fine was due to be heard at Twickenham on Thursday but the RFU issued a brief statement saying it would take place elsewhere and "there will be no announcement today".

The governing body is still reeling from the latest in a series of setbacks with confidential player reports that were highly critical of many aspects of the World Cup campaign being leaked in the media on Wednesday.