Rugby:The English RFU is reputedly close to naming the source responsible for the leaking of three confidential reports into England's troubled Rugby World Cup campaign.

The documents, which were compiled by the English union, the English Rugby Player’s Association and the Aviva Premiership clubs, caused huge embarrassment after they were leaked to The Times newspaper as they lifted the lid on a disastrous tournament blighted by off-field woes.

England’s tournament ended in quarter-final defeat to France but their exit since over-shadowed by personal accounts highlighting a lack of trust and leadership within the squad.

The leaks sparked anger from those players who contributed to what they thought would be a confidential process while legal action has since been threatened as a result of damaged reputations. In the latest development, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that Monitor Quest, the private security firm in charge of the investigation, require “just one final piece of evidence” and hope to reveal the source of the leak before the end of the week.

“The investigators are on the cusp of finding who leaked the reports,” a source told the newspaper. “There is a lot of pressure to find out who was responsible for doing it as it will clear the names of all the other people who had access to them. The England players in particular are furious that their comments, which they felt they had given anonymously, have been made public in this way.”