Shontayne Hape has revealed that he declined to help with the review into England's disastrous World Cup campaign out of respect for his teammates.

Reports regarding the national side's off-the-field antics were leaked to The Times, claiming that some players were more concerned about how much money they were earning throughout the competition, as well as revealing negative attacks on former coach Martin Johnson.

"I chose not to get involved," the Daily Mail quotes Haye as saying. "I never wanted to criticise my teammates. I didn't want to do the review about how the World Cup went because it's been and gone.

"You just want to concentrate on playing rugby. After reading all that stuff I feel lucky I wasn't involved [in the review].

"All this negative stuff that has come out is damaging not only to the players but to the supporters too. It doesn't paint a very pretty picture."

Professional Game Board chairman Ian Metcalfe said that he was "disappointed" that the files were leaked to the press.