Stuart Lancaster to name England's Rugby World Cup squad on Thursday
Monday 24 August 2015 15:59, UK
Stuart Lancaster will name his 31-man England squad for the Rugby World Cup on Thursday, the Rugby Football Union has confirmed.
Lancaster has to cut eight players from the group of 39 involved in the back-to-back warm-up matches against France at Twickenham and in Paris.
He will name the squad at 1.45pm on Thursday at a press conference at the team's training base, Pennyhill Park in Surrey.
The 25-20 defeat at the Stade de France could well have made Lancaster's decisions even tougher, with utility back Danny Cipriani, No 8 Nick Easter and lock Dave Attwood performing well off the bench.
All three needed strong performances to challenge Lancaster's thinking and reacted by playing important roles in the late fightback that secured scoreboard respectability in an otherwise below-par performance.
Lancaster said after the Paris defeat that he still had positions to decide over, and England are set to play two 15-a-side training matches to help him finalise his selection.
Prior to confirmation of the press conference, World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward criticised Lancaster for leaving his announcement so late.
"England should have made their final cuts already and it's clearly been affecting players and their performances," Woodward said in the Daily Mail.
"If we in the media and England fans are talking about the issues and permutations, you can be sure the players are doing likewise. Stuart Lancaster should show real leadership... and announce the squad this (Monday) evening."
England have one more warm-up game, against Ireland at Twickenham on September 5, to come before their opening pool game against Fiji 13 days later.
