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| Sam Burgess is battling for one spot in the World Cup squad |
SAM BURGESS will face a shoot-out with centre partner Henry Slade at Twickenham against France on Saturday for a place in England’s Rugby World Cup squad.
The pair were named last night by Stuart Lancaster in an uncapped midfield for the first of his side’s three warm-up matches for the tournament with the England coach admitting only one of them can make the final 31.
“It’d be a big step to have both of them there,” said Lancaster. “There are still six centres left and there are three centres – Barritt, Burrell and Joseph – not playing this weekend, so the slots available are getting narrow.
“He’s up against two other good players as well (Slade and replacement Billy Twelvetrees) but it’s about what’s right for the team.
“We will see if he can translate what he’s doing in training, which is clearly good otherwise I wouldn’t have taken this chance to look at him against France. We’ll see how he goes.
“He’s worked hard to learn the game. This is the next step, to see if he can make the step to becoming an international player. I’m open-minded. I do think the longer he plays the game and the more opportunities we give him in training and games, the better he’ll become. He’s not got a free pass into the team.”
Tom Wood will captain an experimental England side which shows 13 changes from the team which beat France 55-35 in the last game of the Six Nations’ Championship.
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