England forward James Haskell is to sue the New Zealand hotel worker who claimed that he and two other players sexually harassed her at the Rugby World Cup.

Haskell, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton were all accused of the offence by Annabel Newton at their team hotel in Dunedin on September 9.

Legal representatives for Haskell have sent papers to Newton to ask her to withdraw her claim, according to The Telegraph.

The deadline for her apology expired on Friday night and Haskell's lawyers have said that they will "take the appropriate steps to clear his name and to recover his financial loss".

The news comes after leaked reports said that the RFU suggested to the players during the tournament that they should pay off the chambermaid to keep her from taking action.

However, they refused and Newton eventually sold her story to a Sunday paper.

Haskell and Ashton were each fined £5,000 for the incident, while Hartley was cleared of any wrongdoing.