Slade is no gamble, insists Lancaster

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has denied that he has gambled by selecting Henry Slade of Exeter Chiefs and Bath’s Sam Burgess among an inexperienced centre contingent bound for the Rugby World Cup.

Just two weeks ago, Lancaster stated that it would be a “big step” to include Burgess and Slade alongside Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph in his final 31-man squad, due to their lack of Test experience.

Days later, they made strong debuts in the 19-14 victory over France at Twickenham and, after impressing throughout the summer-long training camp, Lancaster took the bold step on Thursday of naming both men in his World Cup squad.

It means England’s four centres have only 36 caps – 22 of them supplied by Barritt – but Lancaster is satisfied that he had settled upon the right blend of centres.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a risk, it’s exciting. The France game at Twickenham was a key moment for Henry and Sam and was a reflection of what we had seen in training over the last eight weeks. They both delivered,” Lancaster said.

“The impact both have made in training is huge. On Wednesday, it was the same. There never is one moment in selection. It is a picture you build up over time. They have both been excellent and they deserve their chance.”

Burgess won the battle of the gain-line bruisers after Luther Burrell was told by Lancaster that he had lost out to the player who switched codes from rugby league ten months ago.

It was a tight call that had clearly taken an emotional toll on Lancaster, but the head coach was ultimately swayed by the presence of Burgess in attack and defence.

“Sam certainly brings physicality at 116kg and is as quick as any of our centres, except for Joseph, and certainly as quick as Luther,” Lancaster said. “He is powerful and understands and reads defences very well. He is a very aggressive tackler, but one of his main attributes that goes unnoticed more than anything else is that he runs effective lines, even when he doesn’t get the ball.”

The inclusion of Plymouth-born Slade will delight all who saw his clever hands open up France at Twickenham on August 15 – he helped to set up each of England’s three tries – and not least as Lancaster appeared to indicate last week that this World Cup had come too early for the 22-year-old from Sandy Park.

However, Lancaster revealed that it was a conversation which took place after the squad’s two-week training camp in Denver that set Slade, who can cover fly-half and both centre positions, on the correct path.

“I told him, if you are going to into this World Cup squad, I need to see your presence and your personality. I need to see more of it. He is a quiet lad,” added the England coach.

“He is not one to shout about himself, but he has just developed confidence within the group. On the field, his presence has gone through the roof. He has really opened up a lot of options for us.”

Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie was excluded from the squad, as expected. Two other Chiefs players, second-row forward Geoff Parling and wing Jack Nowell, were included in Lancaster's final selection.