Marcus Smith

A High Court judge who sent a love letter to a young member of staff asking her to go on walks with him has escaped being sacked. Mr Justice Marcus Smith's handwritten message to the woman in a 'vulnerable' junior role left her feeling 'distressed, angry, let down and devalued', an investigation was told. The 57-year-old judge, who is president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), acknowledged giving the letter was 'plainly inappropriate' and had caused the woman 'significant emotional distress'. The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) said he was given a formal reprimand, 'the most serious sanction short of removal from office', after a probe concluded he had 'shown little insight into why his actions were so wrong'.

CHRIS FOY: Before heading to the airport for their 12,000-mile journey home, England's tour party took a ferry to Waiheke Island to enjoy lunch overlooking the Hauraki Gulf and sing a few songs. After being on the go for 13 months, it was a deserved opportunity to relax and unwind together, come to terms with another frustrating, jarring defeat and reflect on everything they have been through in the course of a marathon season. It didn't end how they wanted it to, but given where they were last summer, England could take comfort from the sense that they are on the up. So much has happened during a campaign which begun last June, when Steve Borthwick named his training squad for the World Cup. Not long after that, the national team appeared to be in a state of disarray following another two-wins-from five return in the Six Nations. They lost at home to Fiji, which wasn't an ideal send-off for the global showpiece, amid grave concerns about their physical condition and their defence in particular.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: I'm afraid it's a bit of a copy and paste job from last weekend. The reality is England should have won both matches against an All Blacks team that was there for the taking. Before the game at Eden Park, I wrote that England must learn from the first Test where they played not to lose rather than win the match in the last half hour. I was interested to hear Steve Borthwick reference exactly that in his pre-match interview on Sky. Unfortunately, exactly the same thing happened again. For the second weekend running, England were outstanding for 50 minutes and just too passive in thought and deed for the final half hour.