England captain Chris Robshaw happy with home World Cup

England captain Chris Robshaw insists being World Cup hosts is a huge advantage ahead of this autumn's tournament.

The 2015 World Cup kicks off on September 18 when England play Fiji at Twickenham and the Harlequins back-row revealed he had spoken to sports people from various fields who were "jealous" of the opportunity to play in a home competition.

"It's a bonus, for sure," he said. "People ask 'is it pressure?' No, we've got to put that pressure on other teams.

"Other teams come here playing in front of 60 million people cheering us on and we've got to use that to our advantage."

England won the 2003 tournament, and reached the 2007 final but exited the last at the quarter-final stage four years ago in New Zealand as the All Blacks won on home soil.

Robshaw was overlooked for the squad for the 2011 tournament, which was a shambles for England and marred by off-field issues.

This time around Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley will not be considered by England head coach Stuart Lancaster for off and on-field indiscretions, while Danny Cipriani is awaiting the outcome of a police investigation after being arrested on suspicion of drink driving earlier this month.

Hartley was a member of the leadership group which supports Robshaw, who called for others to step up in the absence of more established stars.

"It's never ideal when you lose a guy of so much experience," Robshaw said. "It's tough for Dyls, but there's a lot of guys looking for that opportunity now to step up.

"You look at someone like Tom Youngs, who has played for the Lions."

He (Lancaster) might have the majority of his squad in mind, but there will be a lot of spaces up for grabs and it's up to guys to go and win those spots

Robshaw was reluctant to dwell on the omissions or on the 2011 tournament but believed it was important players were allowed to switch off away from rugby in order to be mentally prepared.

"Mentally, it's about how do we make sure in two, three months' time when it starts we're ready to go," said Robshaw, who faces weeks of conditioning as England bid to be the fittest team in the tournament.

"It's about guys having that balance, going home and doing what they want to do.

"Whether it's taking the dog for a walk, playing golf, going to the beach, on holiday, just making sure that mentally you have a bit of downtime.

"Guys are responsible. Guys know what they want to achieve and they know their position and the shape and everything else they need to be in.

"This is magnified from what a lot of us have been in before, but all the guys know the situation and what we need to achieve.

"We've got eight or nine weeks before the final cut, for guys to put their hands up and really impress.

"He (Lancaster) might have the majority of his squad in mind, but there will be a lot of spaces up for grabs and it's up to guys to go and win those spots."