A judge investigating claims four English rugby players sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman at Auckland's Hilton hotel wants to re-interview the quartet at the centre of the scandal.
English Rugby Football Union chief disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett was ready to announce his findings yesterday, but decided to delay
the report after receiving a letter from lawyers representing the woman.
"I have received a letter, and, in the light of what it contains, my investigation will now take a few more days," Blackett told Britain's Guardian newspaper.
"It seems that the woman is not going to take the matter further in New Zealand, but it means it will be Monday or Tuesday before I will be in a position to finalise my report. The four players at the centre of the investigation will then be named."
The letter, released to media on Friday, says the woman will not make a formal complaint to the police because doing so would threaten her privacy.
She said she was invited back to the hotel by a member of the England team after their loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park on June 15.
She claims she was sexually violated by that player and three others, and she was injured to the extent that medical professionals who treated her the following day referred her to the police.
The players - named in British media as Danny Care, David Strettle, Topsy Ojo and Mike Brown - have denied any wrongdoing.
The woman's lawyer, Jack Hodder, said the woman did not want to lay a formal complaint with the police.
Referring to the investigation by England rugby authorities, the letter said: "For similar reasons, the victim does not wish to deal directly with your inquiry, but does seek to provide the essential context, as summarised above."
