When people say English rugby is in a state of limbo they are correct in more ways than one. How much lower can some reputations go? The harassed Professional Game Board (PGB) chairman, Ian Metcalfe, used the words "disappointing" and "frustrating" in response to the torrent of confidential post-Rugby World Cup details in the Times. Had he chosen "hideously embarrassing" and "utterly mortifying" he would still have understated the case.

For to call this a leak is not, strictly, accurate. It is more of a gushing stream of home truths which reflect appallingly on the majority of those involved in England's Rugby World Cup campaign in New Zealand. Even the mundane stuff is back‑page dynamite. "To go into World Cup games not having a gameplan, any structure or clear idea of what we were going to do in attack was astonishing," said one player. "I really can't believe we lasted as long as we did in the tournament. We played like crap," admitted another. The days of blaming the media for writing unkind things about the team's performances finally appear over.

Not all of the complaints would stand up to prolonged scrutiny in a court of law. In 101 pages of interviews and comments, some good stuff has clearly been trodden underfoot in the rush to highlight the steel toe-capped bits. The "fair and balanced recommendations" which the PGB is hoping to deliver to the Rugby Football Union's management board on 30 November would appear, however, to be a remote prospect. It is no longer a question of how many coaches and players retain their highly paid positions within the national squad as how many can possibly survive such a poisonous bout of in-fighting.

The most brutal truth, in the view of several of the players, was that too many of Martin Johnson's management team were out of their depth. As one squad member put it: "The standard of attack coaching and defence coaching was poor. Substandard to coaching at my club. Some of the coaches have no feel for the game." Even more wounding was one of his colleagues: "The coaches' philosophy on how to play the game was very different. The coaches really hate each other."

It is also revealing to learn that some of Johnson's selections were viewed with as much scepticism inside the squad as they were outside it. "They selected [Lewis] Moody ahead of [Tom] Wood despite Moodos being half fit and Woody playing awesomely in training and in the Six Nations." Some were also baffled when Harlequins' Chris Robshaw was omitted from the squad having been outstanding in summer training. Ben Youngs, according to his team-mates, was barely fit and the recall of Jonny Wilkinson at No10 was far from universally popular.

For those of us actually following the squad out in New Zealand, all this belated honesty comes as something of a relief. Many of the same things were written, or alluded to, in these pages, only to be dismissed as destabilising talk from unsupportive hacks. What none of us fully appreciated, perhaps not even Johnson or the coaches themselves, was the sheer amount of pent-up discord lurking within the camp. There was a row after England's dire performance against Wales in the Cardiff warm-up game but the coaches all swore it had been smoothed over. Wilkinson's subsequent criticisms in his book now look absurdly mild compared with the vitriolic reality.

Even without the off-field issues, it is now apparent the whole expedition was doomed before it even began. Only now, it seems, are those involved realising there is something deeply rotten within the culture of the RFU's elite-player squad which cannot be healed merely by the appointment of a new coach or two. "The RFU need to send someone down to SA and find out exactly what it will take to get Nick Mallett to become England's head coach – NOW!" tweeted the former captain Will Carling. If only it were that straightforward.

Because if the coaches and myriad RFU officials emerge abysmally from the leaked pages, the players should also be aware how bad this makes them look. Only a few, it seems, are sufficiently self‑aware to realise how badly wrong it all went.

"We can't just blame the coaches for the predicament we got into. Look at France, they couldn't stand their coach and they almost won the World Cup," claimed one player.

Comparisons with the focused, united Wales squad are even starker. "It's our own fault we came back so unpopular," wrote one player sadly. At least no one can now accuse the RFU of brushing stuff under the carpet. It must now do whatever it takes to ensure this damning, shameful post-mortem is the lowest point in Twickenham's turbulent history.