More fuel has been spilled on the fire that was England's 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign in New Zealand, which appears as turbulent off the field as it was on.
Former captain and Rotorua-born Dylan Hartley, who garnered 96 international caps, reveals details of the tournament in his new bookThe Hurt.
Despite four wins in four under their belt after slugging their way through one of the toughest pools at the tournament - that featured Argentina and Scotland - the Red and Whites were sent home early with a quarter-final defeat to France, handing them their equal-worst World Cup finish at the time.
Those on-field failures could be traced back to numerous misbehaviours.
"I regret, bitterly, that I didn't treat the 2011 World Cup with the seriousness it deserved," Hartley says in his book, according to The Telegraph.
"[Before leaving England for New Zealand] we went on the booze, big time.
"[After the flight] the pride of English rugby … had assumed the renegade mentality of a club Extra B team, determined to do damage on an end-of-season stag trip to Magaluf."
The partying among players continued when they arrived in Auckland, which included a steep bar tab of $4000 and some property damage.
Former England captain Dylan Hartley. Photo / Getty
The carnage included a player who "shoulder-charged a bedroom door off its hinges, searching for the teammate he suspected had taken a dump in his bathroom sink," Hartley writes.
The team's antics was met with poor press. Veteran Mike Tindall made the short-sighted decision to head to a bar in Queenstown accompanied by a supposed ex-girlfriend, having at the time just married the Queen's granddaughter Zara.
While in Queenstown the team were also accused of throwing dwarves.
"Did we have a laugh and a dance that turned into a drunken wrestle with the little people? Sure, but no offence was taken," Hartley adds.
In Dunedin, Hartley along with James Haskell and Chris Ashton found themselves in hot water for supposedly abusing a female hotel staffer, but were later cleared.
Following their defeat to France, midfielder Manu Tuilagi was fined and warned by police for jumping off a ferry in Auckland's Waitematā harbour.
The team's behaviour was slammed by former players.
Hartley admits at that time of his life, aged 25 and having made his international debut just two years prior, he was firmly a part 'the wild boys club'.
The retired hooker's hopes of enjoying a more successful 2015 tournament, which was on home soil, were well off the mark. He missed out on playing due to judiciary problems, and his teammates failed to carry the team past the group stage, finishing third after suffering defeats to Wales and Australia.
In 2016 following the appointment of Jones, Hartley was named the team's captain.
"He [Eddie Jones] didn't revive my career. He gave me a career. I had a s*** career before that. I had played a lot of games but I had nothing to show for it," Hartley says.
