Controversial England midfielder Manu Tuilagi was given a slap on the wrist for his latest indiscretion, after he was detained by New Zealand police for jumping off a ferry as it was about to dock at the Auckland waterfront.

In a statement on Monday the Rugby Football Union revealed that Tuilagi has been fined £3,000 (US,680) for the latest off-field incident that rocked the England camp on their failed World Cup campaign.

Tuilagi expressed his regret for the incident, which could have had "tragic" consequences.

"I'm really sorry," the centre said, adding: "It was a silly thing to do and I apologise to everybody for any inconvenience caused."

England Team Manager Martin Johnson also expressed his disappointment in the latest incident to cast a cloud over a team haunted by off-field incidents as much as their on-field failures.

"This was an irresponsible thing to do," Johnson said, adding: "Manu has been disciplined internally and I have warned him about his future conduct."

The fine will be paid to the RWC Christchurch Appeal

Warren Fowler, the general manager of the ferry company, said that the antic was dangerous and there could have been serious consequences.

"It could have been tragic, with vessels coming in here and someone jumping off the back of a vessel when it is going to be reversing shortly," Fowler told the New Zealand Herald.

England were knocked out of the World Cup by France in the quarter-finals on Saturday, losing 19-12.

"A member of the England rugby team jumped overboard from a Devonport to Auckland ferry at 6.48pm [18.48] last evening," said a police statement.

"He was met by police after swimming a short distance to Pier 3 near the ferry terminal.

"He was taken to Auckland Central Police Station where he was formally warned about the offence of disorderly behaviour then released to the company of the England team management."

Tuilagi, the baby brother of Samoan wing Alesana, had already been in hot water at the tournament when he was fined for wearing an illegal gumshield bearing a sponsor's name.

He was fined NZ,000 (US,500) for wearing the wrong mouthguard in England's game against Georgia.

Tuilagi Senior had, earlier in the tournament, also been fined for wearing the same branded mouthguard in one of Samoa's Pool D fixtures.

The latest Tuilagi incident came after England had been knocked out of the World Cup by France in last Saturday's quarterfinal.

It is the latest in a series of off-field incidents that have dogged England throughout their trip, starting with their five-day stay in Queenstown - where captain Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, was caught on CCTV footage hugging and kissing a blonde woman in a bar.

Tindall issued an apology after he initially denied visiting a second bar with the woman.

Problems also occurred in Dunedin, where England played their early World Cup matches. A hotel worker complained of 'lewd' behaviour towards her by three England players, wing Chris Ashton, hooker Dylan Hartley and back row forward James Haskell.

The trio denied that they had done anything wrong but were made to apologise to the hotel worker, who complained that their comments had humiliated her. Ashton, Hartley and Haskell were reprimanded by England management at the time. Details of the incident only emerged three weeks later.

On the field things did not go that well for England either.

Courtney Lawes was banned for two matches for "recklessly striking" Argentina's Mario Ledesma with the knee in the head in their opening group match.

Delon Armitage was banned for one match for a dangerous high tackle on Scotland's Chris Paterson in their pool match.