A chastened England team flew out of New Zealand yesterday, among them the four players at the centre of the rape allegations that so undermined the final week of the tour, knowing that the controversy could plague them for months.

As they left with Rob Andrew, the RFU director of elite rugby, insisting that he would not be taking the blame for the tour debacle, the governing body was coming under increasing pressure to name the quartet under suspicion to protect the integrity and character of the remainder of the squad, who have lived under a cloud since the alleged incident.

Jeff Blackett, the union's disciplinary officer, said: “There is a very delicate balance to be struck between any potential criminal proceedings and disciplinary proceedings. With the four players implicated, there is a lot of debate as to whether their names should be released. As things stand, we have 27 players against whom there is suspicion.” Blackett who has been in South Africa acting as the citing officer for the two internationals against Wales and the one against Italy, said disciplinary action under RFU rule 5.12, relating to misconduct, was inevitable.

“We cannot do nothing,” he said yesterday. “Those proceedings would be different if there is no complaint of rape. There could well be proceedings based on players having had inappropriate people in their rooms. Sanctions could range from the most severe, expulsion from the union, to a slap on the wrist and anything in between.”

The woman at the centre of the allegations has yet to make a formal complaint, leaving English rugby in limbo until she either does so or withdraws her accusation. This will have a knock-on effect on selection for the 32-strong elite player squad, that will be picked this week after consultation with Martin Johnson, the team manager, and revealed on July 1. It could be that players are included only then to be withdrawn in the event of charges being brought.

It has been revealed that the 18-year-old woman, a bar worker, did seek hospital treatment after the alleged attack in a bedroom at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland. The players insist they are innocent and that sex was consensual. In a separate development, David Strettle, the Harlequins wing, who pulled out of the squad on Saturday with injury, was named in a Sunday newspaper as one player who spent the night with a 22-year-old woman, who has been paid £5,000 for her kiss-and-tell story.

Meanwhile, Andrew, the stand-in head coach, said he would not quit despite overseeing a tour that collapsed into recrimination and so besmirched the image of English rugby.

“I am not going to consider my position. I am going to carry on doing the work that I am doing at the union. I am going to carry on with my position as the elite rugby director of the RFU,” he said. Asked whether he would take the blame for England's failings on the field, Andrew said: “If you are going to go down the blame game, then absolutely not.” He said that players had to take responsibility for their own actions.

Yet some players are barely out of their teens and need guidance. And despite what went on last weekend it was surprising to see Andrew allowing the players to go out for drinks on Saturday night, this time accompanied by security guards. This led to suggestions that they did not care about representing their country. Andrew denied this. “I do not accept that they are not hugely disappointed by the end result,” he said. “They put their bodies on the line from the first minute to the last. We are not going to lock players in their hotel rooms.”