Tindall's regret over drunken night out

Mike Tindall. Photo / FIle

English rugby player Mike Tindall has spoken of his regret at getting "hammered'' during a fateful night out in Queenstown that led to his suspension from the team last year.

Tindall was England's captain during the Rugby World Cup when he was caught on camera getting cozy with former girlfriend Jessica Palmer at Altitude bar in Queenstown.

The drunken night out came just weeks after he wed the Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, and led to his suspension from the team and a hefty 15,000 pound (NZ$29,000) fine.

In a new interview with Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, Tindall has spoken of his regret over the events that evening, saying it was not ideal to get so drunk.

"I've stayed away from talking about what happened because people have their fixed opinions and you can't compete when people have already made their minds up,'' he told the paper.

"Obviously, it wasn't ideal for me to end up as hammered as I was. That's a given. People have done that in their lives before and I'm sure I won't be the last person to get pissed and then realise it wasn't a great idea to drink so much.''

Tindall said the reaction turned into a rollercoaster he could not control.

"But the people close to me, those I love, know what actually happened and it just wasn't some enormous crisis.''

He said he would not repeat the same situation, which came just a day after England scored a close victory in its Rugby World Cup opening match against Argentina.

But he defended England's performance at the tournament, saying the team did not get knocked out because they went for a night out.

"Of course, we did not have as strong a tournament as we'd hoped we'd have and that we should have had. But we didn't fail at the World Cup because we had a night out.''