1st XI left winger Freddie Brunt touched down in Rio yesterday to begin his new life...and immediately ran into problems with the locals by sporting a completely inappropriate 'Mozambique' t-shirt.

So used has 'Brunty' become to spending time with his Mogamban mates, regularly sacking off Saturday night beers with the rest of his team to enjoy looking at slide shows of mud huts and local fish markets, that he appears not to have remembered that it was in fact Brazil he was headed to and not Mozambique.

Reports from Rio state that as he brazenly wandered through the arrivals hall oblivious to the distress his choice of attire was causing, wheels were being put in motion by the local law enforcement to apprehend the simpleton.

Subsequent bulletins from local news outlets stated that as well as insulting the nation of Brazil, Brunt was also under suspicion for carrying a malnourished boa constrictor on his person, casually wrapped around his shoulder. Thankfully, it later transpired that it was not a deadly snake but in fact a rather gauche bag strap his girlfriend, Gina di Tommaso, had given him as a going away present.

An international incident was narrowly avoided when the British High Consulate in the city learnt of the brouhaha and despatched one of their work experience wastrels to find 'Fredinho' and remind him which country he was now planning to live in, as well as to tell him to take off the ridiculous reptilian man bag if he wanted to last longer than 24 hours.

Brunt was mildly embarrassed, but confessed to reporters later 'Er, my mum packed my clothes and said it's a really cool t-shirt, so I wore it. Do any of you want to play table tennis later?'

With that he turned and walked off down the street, heading in completely the opposite direction to his new apartment in Ipanema.

Freddie Brunt was 28 last week.