England wing Chris Ashton has defended the decision made by some players to go drinking in a bar that was holding dwarf racing.

Ashton was among a group of England World Cup stars who were photographed enjoying Sunday night in Queenstown's Altitude Bar, which was staging a "Mad Midget Weekend" hosted by a Sydney-based business called Little Man Entertainment.

Security camera footage from the bar also showed Mike Tindall, who had captained England to a 13-9 victory over Argentina the previous day, in conversation with a woman.

The footage appears to show the woman kissing Tindall on the top of his head.

The England squad had been given Sunday night and Monday off by manager Martin Johnson, who approved the players' decision to go out and "have a few beers" as a way of relieving the pressure of the World Cup.

Ashton conceded the players may have been naive to end up in the backpackers' bar and the squad have held a meeting to address that, led by England's senior players.

But the Northampton wing said: "We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary.

"There were dwarves there, yes, but that was just the night the bar was having. It was nothing to do with us. We didn't bring them with us or anything like that.

"We just ended up in there. I don't think anything had been organised or anything like that. It was just a bar that we ended up in.

"It's just lads enjoying a night out. We just don't see anything in it and we're concentrating on this weekend."

England face Georgia in Dunedin tomorrow but the issue over their antics in Queenstown dominated yesterday's team announcement.

Johnson stated before the team left for New Zealand that he would not be imposing drinking bans on the squad and he stuck by that decision yesterday.

The former England captain revealed he would not want to be part of the World Cup if he had to lock players in their hotel - as Fabio Capello did with his England team at the football World Cup in South Africa.

"I don't (feel my trust has been betrayed). We knew they were going out to have a few beers," Johnson said.

"You have got to relieve the pressure and let off steam at the right time. I had no problem with them doing that.

"We all know when you have a rugby team that part of it is the bonding off the field.

"It has been a great World Cup. On the streets of Dunedin and in Queenstown, you have players out and about and engaging with the public. I don't want to get away from that."

Johnson, who has been in contact with his superiors at Twickenham, confirmed there would be no disciplinary action arising from the night out.

Tindall's omission from the England team to play Japan is part of Johnson's squad rotation and is not a consequence of Sunday's episode.

"If there is a complaint and someone says one of your players has acted inappropriately then we will act on it but the manager of the bar says the England players' behaviour was perfectly acceptable all through the evening," said Johnson.

"It was guys out having a few drinks, as other teams have done in the same town during the World Cup.

"There is no difference, it is just the way it has been reported - 'rugby player drinks beer, shocker'.

Johnson insisted the England squad are "fully aware of their responsibilities" in the modern world of camera phones, which was the theme of Thursday's player meeting.

Ashton believes the episode will bring the squad closer together as they prepare to tackle Georgia in Dunedin.

"It's just brought us a bit more together and made us realise the effect the World Cup has on the team," said Ashton.