Lancaster wants no distractions

Stuart Lancaster laid down the law as England left for South Africa on their first overseas tour since the scandal-hit World Cup campaign.

Lancaster warned he would not tolerate any repeat of the off-field antics which led to England returning from New Zealand with their reputation in tatters.

The England coach took his 42-man squad through their code of conduct and hammered his message home by flashing up newspaper headlines on the string of World Cup controversies.

Lancaster cracked down on discipline when he took over the reins from Martin Johnson ahead of the RBS Six Nations, and he reminded his players they head to South Africa as ambassadors of English rugby.

"I talked about the environment we have created since the World Cup and the reasons why," Lancaster said.

"I started the talk by reminding the players where we were six months ago and I showed them some of the headlines.

"I said to them, 'The reason we have got from where we were then to where we are now is because we have focused on why we want to play for England'.

"When you look around the room, there have been quite a few players involved in incidents and all of them were nodding their heads in agreement when I said, 'We don't want to have any off-field distractions affecting our on field performance'.

"That was basically the line. I made it pretty clear - this is the way the bus is going and you all have a decision if you want to be on it."

England's World Cup campaign was dogged by controversy, from the drunken night out in Queenstown which led to Mike Tindall being fined £15,000 to Manu Tuilagi jumping from a ferry into Auckland Harbour.

The Football Association have based their code of conduct for Euro 2012 on some of the lessons learned from last year's Rugby World Cup debacle.

England manager Roy Hodgson revealed a document had been put together "especially in the light of what happened with the England rugby team".

Lancaster has not set any specific curfews on his players and he will not lock them up in the team hotel every night of the five-match, three Test tour.

But he said the squad are in no doubt about what is now acceptable for an England player on tour, representing their country.

Danny Care found out exactly how tough Lancaster was prepared to be when he was axed from the Six Nations squad after being arrested for drink-driving.

Lancaster only brought Care back into the squad for the South Africa tour after being convinced the Harlequins scrum-half, who has given up alcohol, could be trusted.

"I am not going to say we are not going out ever. There will be parameters and guidelines," Lancaster said.

"There is a code of conduct in place. We went through it and they all understand what can and can't be done.

"It is more than words, it is behaviours and actions.

"When they turn up for meetings you are on time, when you do community events you engage, you thank the fans for supporting you.

"On Sunday, some fans had waited for nearly an hour and a half. Rather than get straight on the bus, the players went straight up to sign autographs and have pictures taken.

"They now understand it is about giving something back. We have set up some really good community events out there.

"I said, 'We have 42 players here and I want all 42 to have taken part in a community event by the end of the tour'.

"I could see the players nodding, saying 'I want to be part of that'. That shows me they understand the difference."