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Tindall escapade seen online

Dunedin - Mike Tindall's now infamous night out in Queenstown has been widely viewed after security camera footage of the England rugby star in a bar was made available online.

The grainy footage of Tindall was uploaded to video-hosting website Youtube before being taken down. It remained on some newspaper websites Friday.

The silent footage showed Tindall talking with a woman, briefly holding her hand and receiving a kiss on top of his bald head.

Tindall has been subject to extra attention at the Rugby World Cup because he married Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter, last month.

He hasn't spoken publicly about his night with team-mates and was rested from England's team to face Georgia on Sunday, as expected.

"The guys were out having a few drinks, as other teams have done in the same town during the World Cup in their buildups," team manager Martin Johnson said. "There's no difference. It's just the way it's been reported."

Johnson said England management had received no complaint or any evidence of wrongdoing by Tindall or his teammates, who were in Queenstown for five days between their opening win over Argentina and Saturday's second Pool B game against Georgia.

"If there's a complaint and someone says 'one of your players acted inappropriately,' we would act upon it," Johnson said. "The manager of the bar has said the England players' behavior was perfectly acceptable all evening. There's no implication from anyone there that we've heard, that there's been any bad behavior."

New Zealand television reported that the bar had fired its security company following the leak of the footage.

Johnson was scathing about the British tabloid that broke the story backed by quotes from an unidentified witness.

"'Rugby player drinks beer,'" Johnson scoffed. "Shocker!"

Tindall had been captain of England in the absence of the injured Lewis Moody, who will return against Georgia.

"No one likes to be on the front page of the papers but Mike knows his responsibilities," said Johnson, Tindall's captain in England's 2003 World Cup-winning side. "I don't have to speak about Mike."

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