Stars in scandal axed by Johnno

Martin Johnson assumed responsibility for the England rugby team today and admitted allegations of a serious assault on a woman during the recent tour of New Zealand were unacceptable under his leadership.

The new manager announced his 32-strong elite squad but insisted the allegations involving four England players had not been a factor. Even so, three of those players have been left out.

Johnson made it clear a new code of conduct would be thrashed out with the squad and would form part of a new four-year deal about to be signed between the players and the Rugby Football Union.

Johnson said: "If the players haven't learned a lesson from the tour they never will. The players have to understand their responsibilities.

" There is a balance between being a twentysomething rugby player on tour and your responsibilities to the team and getting into situations where serious allegations have been made. We have picked this squad on playing matters and we cannot prejudice any inquiry. In any code of conduct there will be things that are non-negotiable and if we can't trust our players in certain circumstances then we have problems. I would be disappointed if anything like this happened on my watch.

"We cannot have serious allegations against the team. It's not what we are about. It hasn't happened before and we don't want it again. I'm aware of the public's perception of my role and my only aim is to make this team better."