England winger Jonny May targets World Cup place

Winger Jonny May believes a partisan home crowd could roar England on to World Cup glory on home soil.

The 25-year-old Gloucester wing is part of the 50-man training squad which is being put through its paces and will travel to Denver this weekend for altitude training and inter-squad matches.

Before the camp heads for the United States, however, the squad will be reduced to 45 players on Friday morning, with a further 14 names to be trimmed by coach Stuart Lancaster in the coming weeks.

May is desperate to be in the final 31-man squad and is driven by the prospect of pulling on the Red Rose in front of an expectant Twickenham.

"It would be incredible. We've spoken about the power of the nation getting behind us and giving us an extra 10 per cent out on the pitch," he said.

"With everybody watching us and being behind us, it gives us that huge responsibility which will put the pressure on us, but if we can use that in a positive way to go out there and give more, it's going to be great.

"I've got to draw my mind back into right now. It's a long way off now but to think about it now really stands the hairs up on the back of my neck.

"It would really be a dream. Being able to play at Twickenham in front of a home crowd with my family there in a World Cup, it doesn't get much bigger than that.

"So there really is everything to play for and train for because it's the ultimate goal. I've just got to keep going and try my best."

May is not however taking a place in Lancaster's final squad for granted.

"For me, it's just taking one day at a time. There's a long, long way (to go)," he said.

"Obviously in the back of my head I'm desperately thinking about 'am I going to make the 31?' but I've got to push that away and just focus really hard on doing the best I can in every session.

"I think if I was to get into that final squad it would be my best achievement so far in rugby, but I think we're all desperate to get involved."

May revealed some of the fitness drills have been gruelling but is confident the training will be excellent preparation in the forthcoming months.

"The running sessions have been up there with the toughest I've done, they've been really tough," he said.

"The training that we've done will prepare us well, we've had some really tough fitness sessions but I'm sure it's going to be a step up in Denver.

"It'll be hot and at altitude and I think we're planning on introducing a little bit more rugby once we get out there, it's been very much strength and conditioning based so far, with a bit of skills."