Manu Tuilagi is the latest England player to be embroiled in an off-field incident
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The Daily Mail's Martin Samuel argues that England's calamitous World Cup campaign can be compared to some of football's worst tournament adventures.
"It was what it was, as Martin Johnson would say. And what it was really wasn’t anything like the campaign England hoped for, or should have delivered.
"A mess of distractions away from the rugby pitch, and often just a mess on it, England decamped from New Zealand as the lead balloon of the 2011 tournament. The inquest may last six weeks; much of what went wrong could equally be identified in six minutes.
"The final ray of sunshine was obscured with the news that Manu Tuilagi, England’s real find of the World Cup campaign, ended his tournament with a police warning for jumping off a ferry returning to Auckland’s waterfront, after a day on Waiheke Island.
"It is not the gravest offence, although his swim to Pier 3 did necessitate a journey to Auckland central police station and further embarrassment for England’s management, but it merely reinforces the perception that what has unfolded in the southern hemisphere this last month is closer to Mike Tindall’s stag do than professional athletes striving to attain a world championship.
"Sadly, this tournament has felt like a cover version, a tribute to World Cup debacles past, perpetrated by England’s footballers"
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