England have encountered the first major injury problems of their World Cup campaign after it was revealed that Jonathan Joseph and Ben Morgan are doubts for Saturday’s pivotal clash with Wales.

England have named an unchanged starting XV for Friday’s World Cup opener against Fiji at Twickenham.

England have selected Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph as their centre pairing for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up game against Ireland at Twickenham.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster will stand or fall on the decision to drop Danny Cipriani from his final squad of 31 for the World Cup, which will be announced today.

England forwards coach Graham Rowntree has been in regular contact with Dylan Hartley to ensure he would be ready if needed during the World Cup.

Anthony Watson scored two tries and Jonny May also crossed as England opened preparations for the World Cup with an edgy 19-14 victory over France at Twickenham.

“At this level you have to make sure you are accurate. Unfortunately, we weren’t."

Wales 16 - England 21: Despite injuries England came from 10 points down to record a famous victory in Cardiff. The Millennium Stadium was enthralled as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations began with a blood and thunder collision.

England have named Danny Cipriani and Nick Easter on the bench for Friday night’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Wales in Cardiff.

Wales boss Warren Gatland has sung the praises of England hooker Dylan Hartley — four years after questioning his temperament.

England’s preparations for the RBS 6 Nations continued to unravel with the news Owen Farrell will miss the entire Championship because of a knee injury.

Danny Cipriani and Nick Easter have the chance to reignite their Test careers in England’s 34-man Six Nations training squad, with Sam Burgess also handed World Cup lift-off.

Munster head coach Anthony Foley says his team "didn’t turn up at times" today after suffering their heaviest European defeat since losing 60-19 to Toulouse during the 1996-97 season.

England held their nerve in the face of a second-half fightback by Australia to end a frustrating autumn with a vital 26-17 victory at Twickenham.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster defended his selection of Owen Farrell after the out-of-form half-back was moved to inside-centre for the QBE International against Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday.

England 28 South Africa 31

New Munster head coach Anthony Foley could be forgiven for enduring a few shivers of apprehension after seeing the Gloucester team chosen by his old mate Laurie Fisher for this afternoon’s pre-season friendly at Kingsholm.

England slipped to a painful late defeat in their first Test against New Zealand knowing that a glorious opportunity to topple the world champions had eluded them.

ENGLAND 29 WALES 18

RBE 6 NATIONS:

The possibility of a Grand Slam may have come and gone but the lessons learned and confidence gained from our defensive display against England should leave us in a better place.

The last 20 minutes of England’s defence of their Twickenham fortress on Saturday was fascinating.

Munster head coach Rob Penney has kept faith with fly-half Ian Keatley to regain his form and steer the province to victory over Gloucester at Kingsholm tonight (6pm).

England 22 New Zealand 30

England emerged comfortable 31-12 winners against Argentina at a subdued Twickenham, but another patchy performance in the QBE Internationals posed as many questions as answers.

Munster 26 Gloucester 10

The backlash. Gloucester are braced for it, the Thomond Park faithful are expecting it and, now, Munster must deliver it.

Gloucester director of rugby Nigel Davies looks set to abandon the principle of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and rotate his winning squad for tomorrow’s Heineken Cup showdown with Munster at Thomond Park (6pm).

It is now more than a decade since the famous Miracle Match of 2003, but memories of that never-to-be-forgotten occasion will be revived when three survivors participate in today’s Seat Series clash of Munster and Gloucester at Thomond Park (kick-off 5pm).

France will take several positives from their 23-13 defeat by New Zealand on Saturday.

Jamie Heaslip has challenged his players to back up victory over Wales last week with another big performance against England tomorrow as Ireland strive to be regarded as one of the best teams in the world.

The three key issues that will decide Ireland’s fate

Wasps flanker James Haskell will make his first RBS 6 Nations start in nearly two years when England tackle Ireland in Dublin on Sunday.

England coach Stuart Lancaster will this morning confirm his starting line-up for Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations game against Ireland in Dublin – and he is expected to keep changes to a minimum.

England hooker Dylan Hartley would relish the chance to lock horns with Ireland opposite number Rory Best again in a bid to lay down a marker for British and Irish Lions Test selection this summer.

The culture of English rugby over the last 12 months has been simple: out with the old, in with the new.

England 38 Scotland 18

Toby Flood will be named in England's RBS 6 Nations squad today after a citing for an alleged tip tackle was dismissed at a Rugby Football Union hearing.

Northern Barbarians 31 England 57

South Africa 36 England 27

Scarlets, who play Munster next weekend, kept their hopes of a place in the RaboDirect Pro12 play-offs alive with a hard-fought victory over bottom side Aironi in Viadana yesterday.

England 30 Ireland 9

As a tough Six Nations campaign ends, Ireland can finish it on a high

France 22 England 24