England kit man probed by RFU after share allegations

The England rugby team's kit man is being investigated by the RFU after he was alleged to advise players to invest in shares which subsequently plunged in value in the run up to the World Cup.

Dave Tennison, 55, allegedly advised players to invest money in LGO Energy, just before the World Cup, and some - reportedly including Sam Burgess and Danny Care - did. Reports suggest they collectively lost around £100,000 when the share price plummeted from £3.27 to 50p.

The RFU confirmed Tennison, a former Royal Marines physical training instructor who has been England's kit man since 2002, is now being investigated, though there is no suggestion he has broken any law.

It said: "The RFU takes the allegations extremely seriously. It is an internal matter and we are taking the appropriate action."

England flanker Tom Wood is understood to have been angry about Tennison's emails to players, revealed in the Sun on Sunday, and told the kit man that the squad was supposed to be focusing on the World Cup, rather than making money.

England became the first host nation to fail to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, losing to Wales and Australia in the pool phase.

Wasps flanker James Haskell said he did not invest any money and played down reports that the players were distracted by the affair.

"For 99.9 per cent of the time the boys were super focused. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that the boys were solely focused on playing in the World Cup," he said after Wasps' 23-3 win over Gloucester on Sunday.

"A few little things like that would not detract - we were playing for our country in a World Cup. I did not dabble - it's not really my thing. I've got enough going on."

Haskell said he was more concerned that the story has been made public at all.

"The most disappointing thing about the whole affair is that things are being pulled out of the hat and I don't know who is responsible," he added. "I don't know who is revealing this sort of stuff. That's more disappointing. People can sensationalise things but behind closed doors we had a group of people working extremely hard.

"The problem is that when you get leaks like that it detracts from the hard work we did and people don't focus on that.

"To sell the papers you add the spice by saying it detracted from our performance but the moment we got into camp in pre-season to the moment we left the boys were dedicated to our performance and it would have taken a tsunami to undermine our performance."