Stuart Lancaster goes without Danny Cipriani

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.

Sam Burgess is on the brink of inclusion in England’s World Cup squad. Burgess, Luther Burrell and Henry Slade have been competing for two of the four fiercely-contested centre berths and Slade and Burgess appear to have edged Burrell.

England hinted strongly last week that Burgess will be involved and all but wrote off Slade’s chances, saying this autumn’s showpiece will have come too early in the 22-year-old’s career.