Rugby World Cup
England have selection headache ahead of RWC opener against Fiji
Tom Hamilton
September 7, 2015
Ben Morgan
Ben Morgan© (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Eleven days are left before England's Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji and Stuart Lancaster is still weighing up who to start at No.8 and fly-half come September 18.

Saturday's win over Ireland will have given the England team a welcome boost after their poor showing in Paris and impressive performances from George Ford and Ben Morgan - at fly-half and No.8 respectively - have given Lancaster a welcome selection headache.

For Morgan, it was his second run out since suffering a broken leg in January and he managed 53 minutes before being replaced by Billy Vunipola. The latter was one of England's better performers in the previous Six Nations while Morgan impressed prior to breaking his leg. It all adds up to give Lancaster a back-row quandary.

When asked about the No.8 pecking order, Lancaster said: "[It's] To be decided. I thought Ben Morgan was excellent. Billy Vunipola was disappointed with his performance against France but I thought he had a positive impact. It was a key turnover at the end of the game which he got, wasn't it?

"The metres and the carries that he and Mako [Vunipola] made together also had a positive impact. But Ben Morgan's such a smart rugby player. It's just a good position to be in. I can see it going the other way and changing it for other games as well. We'll see."

And Lancaster will also have the 11 days to ponder whether to keep the faith with Ford against Fiji or go with Owen Farrell at fly-half. Earlier in the week he said it was a tight call between the pair for just who would get the starting No.10 jersey and that is still the case following their win over Ireland.

"It's too early to tell but, again, it's a good position to be in," Lancaster said. "To have someone like Owen come on off the bench...he brought a huge amount of energy. We were just going into a bit of a dip and Ireland had got back to 15-13. We'll see...both played well I thought."

He added: "We've definitely got selection decisions to make. I felt it was a better performance and that's why we went with the side we did. I thought a lot of the players, the bench included, made a positive impact on the game. It's a good position to be in going into the Fiji game. But (beating Ireland) counts for nothing now. We've got to put all our focus and energy into delivering a better performance against Fiji."

Lancaster and Andy Farrell were present at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday to see Fiji ease past Canada 47-18. Their five-try win gave a timely reminder they will not just roll over come a week on Friday and will give England a stern test in the opening match of the World Cup.

England will now return to their Pennyhill Park base as they eagerly await the start of the tournament and Lancaster will try to ensure they do not peak too early.

"I think it'll be feet on the ground - we don't want to get too carried away because we know the threat that's coming round the corner a week on Friday, and that will be made clear when we're together tomorrow. So the boys are pleased, but we're not jumping up and down because we know that the real business starts a week on Friday, not today."

© Tom Hamilton