Scotland’s World Cup campaign has descended into chaos after three of their players – including their captain and star player – were sent home from the tournament for misconduct. The trio are understood to have been too drunk to board a flight.

The Huddersfield half-back and Scotland captain, Danny Brough, Featherstone’s Sam Brooks and the former Super League forward Johnny Walker will play no further part in the World Cup after remaining in Christchurch over the weekend as the squad departed for their final group game in Cairns.

It is understood the trio were refused permission to fly back to Australia after being too drunk to fly to Brisbane – leaving their international careers hanging in the balance.

The remainder of the Scotland squad, who have suffered comprehensive defeats by Tonga and New Zealand in the opening fortnight of the tournament, continue to Cairns for Saturday’s decisive Group B game against Samoa.

“We expect everyone involved in Scotland Rugby League to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour,” said the Scotland RL chairman, Keith Hogg. “We fully support the code of conduct that is in place for everyone who is involved in the 2017 World Cup.

“We all understand our responsibilities to the game and we must respect the sport and everyone who is involved in it at all times. Unfortunately these three players have not adhered to those standards and those values and will be leaving early from a tournament that it is a privilege for us to be involved in.”

The France hooker Éloi Pélissier has also been sent home for misconduct, which is understood to have been for breaking a team curfew. Pélissier, 26, who joined Leigh from Catalans Dragons just over a year ago, played in France’s 52-6 defeat by Australia in Canberra on Friday and was expected to face England in the final Group A match in Perth next Sunday.

It is the second disciplinary breach for the French, who left the Hull utility player Hakim Miloudi behind for disciplinary reasons after he played in their warm-up match against Jamaica in Perpignan.

Scotland’s hopes of qualification are still in their own hands and they will reach the quarter-finals should they beat Samoa. However, the same cannot be said for Wales, whose chances of progressing are over following their second successive heavy defeat in the group stages.

John Kear’s side were beaten 72-6 by Fiji in Townsville on Sunday, meaning they cannot qualify from Group C. They have conceded 122 points in two games following their 50-6 defeat by Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby and are now playing only for pride against Ireland on Sunday.

Ireland can still qualify with a win in that game but they need a minor miracle from the US, who must beat PNG – who are unbeaten at the tournament – to open the door for Mark Aston’s side to reach the quarter-finals. They were beaten 14-6 by the Kumuls in Port Moresby to leave PNG firmly in control of Group C. The winners of that group are likely to face England in the quarter-finals in Melbourne.

If, as expected, England are paired with PNG, perhaps the one small mercy for Wayne Bennett’s side is that the game will be held in Melbourne instead of the hostile environment which has greeted Ireland and Wales in Port Moresby throughout the group stages.

England will secure second place in Group A with a victory against France on Sunday and, following an underwhelming 29-10 victory against Lebanon on Saturday, the England wing Ryan Hall admits they will need to improve against the French with the knockout stages looming.

“Looking at that performance, we’ve got quite a bit to improve on,” said Hall following the win against the Cedars. “I don’t think it will be hard to improve on it either, because we weren’t very good.

“Bizarrely I think we played better against Australia when we lost – but that’s the World Cup for you, I guess. I think we were better across the board against them but I can’t quite put my finger on what happened here.”

With a potential quarter-final now a fortnight away, Hall is acutely aware that England’s performances must improve, starting against France. “You’ve got to play well ahead of the knockouts,” he said. “We’ve got one more game before that and we’ve got to execute better and play better. Then we’re into the knockouts, which is when the pressure starts building.”