McGeechan, who will be undertaking his seventh Lions tour in South Africa next year, told BBC Radio Five Live today: "The best way to avoid those headlines is to have a strong code of conduct the players are part of.

"With the Lions or any group of players you have to respect everything you do on and off the field. That discipline is second to none and it should be better than anything you do at home. You respect your team mate, and also with a Lions tour you become part of a country as you are there for longer.

"So you respect the people of that country and cannot afford to lose that respect. That discipline and that behaviour is important to me, you don't just turn it on when you cross the touchline."

Asked by interviewer Simon Mayo whether such rules of behaviour needed to be written down, McGeechan - also the director of rugby at London Wasps - said: "If you agree it then it's black and white and there are no grey areas. I don't think there's any reason not to say 'this is what we are buying into, what we accept, and if we don't behave that way there will be consequences'.

"The media is very much part of the professional age. We have been professional for 11 years and the players have to take on board all the things that go with that.

"Young players sometimes have to be told exactly what's expected of them. That is where it is important that management and senior players are seen to set a very strong example. Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio, i can think of two, just would not have let this [England scandal] happen.

"The great thing is he [Johnson] knows how to win games, he knows what it takes to win games, he can relax and he can relax in the right way. But he would set an example that just wouldn't allow this sort of environment to develop.

"I can only say personally what I would think should be there. There will no doubt be chats [with England] about it one way or another."

As to the performances of potential Lions players on the recent tours, McGeechan's observations did not reflect well on the chances of Mike Ford becoming Lions defence coach next summer - a role many pundits have pencilled Shaun Edwards in for.

"I thought the England pack actually played well and were let down in both games by their back play and by their threequarter defence," said McGeechan. "I was in South Africa when Scotland won in Argentina, the technician in the hotel found [TV coverage of] it and screened it for us and it was brilliant to watch, the first Scotland win in Argentina since 1990."