The England players' night out in Queenstown that caused controversy during the World Cup in New Zealand was partly paid for by the Rugby Football Union, it was reported last night.

The Daily Mail said that an email sent by the England team operations manager, Tom Stokes, had indicated to players that he had reserved "an area [of a] bar/pub in town called Pub on the Wharf from 19.30". The email also contained the words "yes, there is a tab" and made clear, the newspaper said, that the "tab" was intended to be used to pay for drinks. Dinner for the England players was to be served in the team hotel at 7pm.

Last week an RFU investigation into events in Queenstown on the night of 11 September, conducted by Rob Andrew, the RFU's professional rugby director, and Karena Vleck, the head of legal, concluded with the former England captain Mike Tindall being fined £25,000 and dropped from the Elite Player Squad. Andrew said the punishment given to the Gloucester centre was for "misconduct that was unacceptable in a senior England player and amounted to a very serious breach of the EPS Code of Conduct".

In response Tindall issued a statement through the Rugby Players Association in which he said that he would appeal against the "unprecedented fine". No date has been set for the appeal.

England's night out in Queenstown, the day after an unconvincing 13-9 victory over Argentina in Dunedin in their first World Cup match, produced a media furore after pictures were published of team members apparently under the influence of alcohol and posing with participants in the Altitude bar's "Mad Midget Weekender".

Furthermore British tabloid newspapers obtained CCTV footage of Tindall, who is married to Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, in conversation with a blonde woman. It was later revealed that Tindall's companion was a former girlfriend.

It was also reported that players had been seen to be drunk when they left the first bar, after three or four hours, and that one group of players had then gone to the Altitude bar.

The severity of Tindall's punishment by the RFU is believed to relate to his having misled the England management, including Martin Johnson, the team manager, over his whereabouts after the visit to the Altitude bar. Tindall said that he did not go on to another bar with the blonde woman, only to admit that he had done so after further reports in the press.

Tindall, who was a member of the 2003 World Cup-winning team, has won 75 caps in an 11-year international career.