KEY POINTS:
It used to be the old team mantra: what goes on tour, stays on tour.
But modern sports stars often find their tour dalliances splashed across the news long before they make it back home themselves and, increasingly, late-night partying can also lead to criminal charges.
This week it's been the English rugby team making front-page news after allegations of a sexual assault on an 18-year-old following last Saturday's match against the All Blacks. But sports stars themselves and the bar staff who serve them at their post-match revelries say players are often targeted by female fans, and both groups need to be vigilant about keeping themselves safe.
Several sporting bodies spoken to by the Herald on Sunday say they hold training sessions, including role-playing scenarios, to help players learn the best ways to behave in social situations.
Rob Nichol of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association says the message is simple: "Don't get baited".
Nichol said players having a drink at a bar can easily be approached by female fans.
"It's easy for one lady to decide to get some headlines and get her photo taken giving the player a peck on the cheek.
"That is only one push of a button away from being published on the internet."
While there is a lot of training and guidance on offer to players, Nichol said it was more about "individual responsibility".
"All we can do is equip them as best we can to allow them to best manage it... the best thing you can do as a young professional player is to face up to it."
However Nichol said he believed there was no way you could ever stop such incidents from happening.
"Don't get baited basically."
Psychologist Marijke Batenburg said women's behaviour around sports stars was due to "idolising".
"They idolise the physicality and beauty and fame of the person.
"They can bathe in the glory of their success."
Batenburg said a sports star's lifestyle was often coupled with alcohol.
"There's a tendency to indulge, therefore you get quite a lot of misreading of people's behaviour."
Such women could also have a "high anticipation" linked to fame.
"There are moments of self confidence by being in the presence of people at the top of their game."
Brooke McAlister was married to All Black first five-eighths Luke for a few years when she became suspicious her husband was straying.
She found secret text messages and rang the numbers on Luke's phone, discovering that he was indeed seeing other women.
The marriage ended but before that Brooke says she had a good relationship with All Black fans.
"I would always have a chat to the fans.
"You see girls all over the show, it was more entertaining than anything."
McAlister said that while some female fans could be "full on" they were the ones she felt were less of a threat.
And she does not blame Luke's straying on the fans alone.
"It always takes two to tango."
Some sports stars say the increase in attention from women has become more prominent recently.
Former league player Hugh McGahan represented New Zealand from 1982 to 1991. He says even then, "There were always women around".
"When touring teams are around it always attracted females."
McGahan said he steered well away from temptation as his wife toured with him.
But he kept an eye out for his team mates.
"I tried to direct guys in certain ways but everyone's got their own way of dealing with things."
And he says the women who attended the after-match drinks in his day are different to those the players contend with now.
"They're independent and forward, that's a sign of the times.
"I cringe when I see what young girls do now and how they behave.
"They're certainly totally different now, all open."
McGahan said he thought female fans today were reflecting the attention directed towards players by fans and the media.
Warriors CEO, Wayne Scurrah, said the club worked in with the NRL's training scheme to protect players as best they could.
"Nothing is ever perfect and you're not guaranteed to be protected."
Last year four New Zealand league players were embroiled in claims involving an incident at the Angus Inn Hotel in Wellington.
A police investigation cleared them, but team management disciplined the players for breaching the code of conduct.
