Wednesday 26 August 2015 23:07, UK
Danny Cipriani will not be in the England Rugby World Cup squad, according to Sky sources.
Cipriani has apparently failed to make the cut despite coming off the bench and impressing in England's 25-20 defeat by France in Paris on Saturday night.
Mike Brown and Alex Goode are set to be named as England's two full-backs, where Cipriani had been providing cover, with George Ford and Owen Farrell to be named as the two fly-halves.
Sir Clive Woodward, who coached England to World Cup glory in 2003, has been calling for Cipriani's inclusion but conceded that his cries would fall on deaf ears.
"Cipriani should be there but he won't be there," said Woodward after England's loss on Saturday.
"England have just not played him enough and not given him a chance. I am a massive George Ford fan but I am hoping that after the World Cup we are not thinking that maybe it was a couple of years to early for him. Ford is a great player but he is a young kid and in Cipriani you have a more experienced player. He just has not had his chance and he won't go."
England will name their final 31-man squad on Thursday after a final training game on Wednesday to finalise a few selection dilemmas.
Centre has been seen as a major concern for England, with Sam Burgess, Henry Slade and Luther Burrell battling to be included alongside Jonathan Joseph and Brad Barritt.
Until this month it was assumed that Burrell, Joseph's regular partner in the Six Nations, was another certainty but it seems he might be still in the TBC department after a late run by Slade and Burgess, both of whom made impressive Test debuts in the home warm-up win over France earlier this month.
Slade, who also covers the fly-half position, is a classy performer with an eye for a gap and is reportedly pencilled in for a slot, whereas rugby league convert Burgess is still grasping the rudiments of the game but brings with him huge physicality and proven big-match temperament.
At No 8 Ben Morgan made his first appearance in eight months against France at Twickenham following a broken leg and though he was a key part of the set-up last year, his lack of match fitness might open the door for 37-year-old Nick Easter to back up Billy Vunipola. Easter's case is helped by the fact he can play at blindside flanker and even lock.
There is a tight call in the second row between the more athletic George Kruis and oak-hewn Dave Attwood, while Jamie George looks set to claim the third hooker berth ahead of Luke Cowan-Dickie.
