#2. Dodging a photographer
This is the story that led to Martin Johnson asking Haskell, ‘Have you been sleeping with prostitutes?’
However, the way Haskell managed to dodge being in the story of the article printed by the News of the World is particularly great.
Haskell wrote: “…just as the boat was embarking, I looked over my right shoulder and saw the photographer from earlier swivel around in his chair with the most professional-looking telephoto lens I had ever seen. It looked like he was wielding a telescope, so I shouted to the lads up top, ‘Get the f— down!’
“It was like we were about to be torpedoed, and it’s quite possible our careers would have been, had I not seen the photographer first, hit the deck and squeezed myself under the gunwale. Some lads saw what I was looking at and ducked down, others were too busy talking to women to be bothered about anything else.
“The boat left harbour with me lying down the side and my feet the only things on show.”