Martin Johnson tells England to avoid off-field scandal in Australia

Two years have passed since England were embroiled in an embarrassing sex scandal in New Zealand but memories of that controversial tour refuse to fade away. Martin Johnson had already told his squad he will not tolerate any repeat in Australia next month and today went a step further, warning his players to beware entrapment by short-skirted saboteurs on their forthcoming two-Test trip. For England's general manager, good behaviour will be paramount. It is a brave Englishman who dares to question the virtue of Australian womanhood – even from 12,000 miles away – as Johnson may be about to discover. England's World Cup-winning captain is adamant, though, that his 44-strong squad should be alert to possible off-field dirty tricks in Perth and Sydney next month and wants them to do their talking on the field rather than through the team's legal adviser. "We'll be together for three-and-a-half weeks in hostile territory, staying in different hotels and city centre locations," Johnson said. "There will be distractions and potential areas to get embroiled in, so we'll need to be smart and look after each other. It's the world we live in. There are pitfalls and some could be put there deliberately. People have cameras on their phones these days ..." Back in 2008 Johnson had just been appointed England's manager but was not in New Zealand when the tour party, led by Rob Andrew, was confronted by sex allegations following an eventful night out in Auckland. No official complaint was made against four named players – Danny Care, David Strettle, Topsy Ojo and Mike Brown – who denied any wrongdoing, though Ojo and Brown were subsequently found guilty of misconduct following a Rugby Football Union investigation. This time, it seems, "No sex, we're British" will be the tour motto. Johnson, either way, is taking no chances and again stressed the importance of good behaviour during England's three-day training camp at Twickenham, which concluded today. "We have touched on it this week, although we've mainly kept discussions on the rugby. In the majority of these cases guys are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because they are who they are it grabs the headlines. If it was a normal member of the public it wouldn't even register. "We'll put in place the right measures and make the players aware. I want them to enjoy being a rugby player. Part of that is enjoying going out with your team-mates at the right time, in the right place and in the right way. They are under a lot of pressure and they've got to enjoy themselves. They have to be trusted." It boils down, ultimately, to maturity and this is a significantly more experienced squad than the weakened group who represented England in 2008. Johnson is also confident the lingering pre-tour pay dispute, due to be settled by arbitration this week, will not affect morale when the party fly out on Monday week. He will not be confirming the tour captain until next week but Leicester's Lewis Moody remains the odds-on favourite. Meanwhile Australia have injury problems. The coach, Robbie Deans, has 15 possible candidates sidelined. The scrum-half Will Genia is expected to be out for six weeks with a knee injury and theprop Benn Robinson is nursing a broken arm. Injury has brought a premature end to the career of the England and London Irish scrum-half Peter Richards, who has been forced to retire with immediate effect due to a back problem which restricted him to 16 appearances for the Exiles this season. The 32-year-old also played for Gloucester, Wasps, Treviso, Bristol and Harlequins, represented England at every level and was a member of the team which won the Hong Kong Sevens in 2004. He was also a member of the 2007 World Cup squad and won his last senior cap against New Zealand two years ago.