Two of England's bravest rugby men are launching their autobiographies almost simultaneously. The similarities effectively stop there: the two books appear to have been written by authors from different planets. Jonny Wilkinson's is a remarkable account of an obsessive perfectionist trapped in a desperately imperfect world. And Lewis Moody's? It is probably fair to say non-drinkers will find Mad Dog: An Englishman, a particularly stressful read.

For a player whose recall of games can be something of a blur, Moody's memory for precisely who debagged whom and who drank what is little short of extraordinary. The all-day boozing sessions that followed Leicester's Heineken Cup triumphs over Stade Français and Munster are retold in raucous detail, along with a range of vomit-stained student antics. When England's outgoing captain chose to uncork such old-school anecdotes, sadly, he had no idea what would happen in New Zealand. In the cold, sobering light of his country's World Cup embarrassments, his desire for candour looks even braver.

Which is why Moody's stark postmortem, delivered in a basement beneath Leadenhall market in the City of London, carries such resonance. "In hindsight, I think we would have banned drinking," he murmured, his mind once again spooling back to Queenstown and the bar-room issues which contributed to England's problems. "It would have been the simplest thing to do. There are a number of other things I would put in place, too, which I'm not going to talk about now.

"It's for me to pass that on to the RFU and for them to use as they wish. I hope they're listened to. As players, you can only speak your mind and suggest things that went well or could be improved. But there does need to be change within the RFU and they're well aware of that. It can't continue as it is."

This is clearly still a man with much on his mind. While Moody has not been stopped in the street by strangers demanding answers, his friends have repeatedly asked the same questions. How could it be that players at a World Cup, repeatedly warned in advance about the need to behave appropriately, got it so wrong? How could they not listen to senior figures such as Moody or Martin Johnson?

Having returned home, Moody clearly still shares their frustrations. "The general public haven't really delved but I've had those conversations with my mates. You have to be realistic and say that what happened off the field definitely did affect the rugby. If I'm worrying about it, it's affecting me, so it's affecting other people."

So what did happen when England stumbled into the "Mad Midget Weekender", which spawned a million headlines? Moody has already expressed regret that others did not call it a night as relatively early as he did. "If I had stayed out I'd have been able to put an arm round them and take them back. That would be my biggest regret. But when I left the bar there were only a couple of guys in there. The other fellas weren't out. As much as I'd like to know everyone's movements, it's not possible."

Nor, unlike some, does Moody seek to blame the media as agents provocateurs. "Absolutely it's the players' fault. The media have a job to do … as players you have to hold your hands up and take responsibility for your actions, simple as that. We spoke about that at length and we spoke about the media, about being in New Zealand and the rugby cauldron that it is. I think that's what is even more disappointing: that we allowed it to happen. It did taint the rugby. Whether we'd have gone beyond the quarter-final or not, it certainly tainted the experience." Meeting the French players in the lift as he checked out of his hotel the morning after England's quarter-final defeat scarcely helped.

Nothing, though, has shaken his conviction that Johnson should remain in charge. Certain other coaches will be less inclined to rush to Waterstones; there are unlikely to be many Christmas cards from Joe Lydon, Richard Cockerill and Brian Ashton. There is also a grim story about Will Johnson breaking an ankle during Leicester training, at which point an unmoved John Wells moved the players across to a neighbouring pitch, leaving the writhing Johnson to await an ambulance. Leicester take no prisoners: within a week of their former Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda's arrival, the players were alreadycalling him Borat behind his back.

More uplifting is Moody's account of living with colitis, the nasty condition he kept secret for years. "It is a hugely humiliating illness to have but there are a lot of people out there who have it. I don't want people to suffer in silence like I did."

When rugby supporters recall Moody's Test career, though, they will do so with affection rather than pity. Regrets? Despite the cruel injuries and premature World Cup farewell, he has remarkably few. "I'll never look back and say I wish I'd tried a bit harder. I'll always know I achieved as much as I possibly could have done. That said, I don't think I appreciate yet quite how much I will miss it."