Sam Warburton© Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images

Sam Warburton has said England's preparations for the World Cup will not be affected by the disciplinary problems which have plagued coach Stuart Lancaster over the past month.

England have lost centre Manu Tuilagi and hooker Dylan Hartley from the World Cup squad after Tuilagi admitted assaulting police offers and Hartley was banned for four weeks after headbutting Saracens' Jamie George.

Fly-half Danny Cipriani has not been excluded from the squad, though, despite an ongoing police investigation into a car accident.

Wales captain Warburton does not feel these problems will affect England's performance on the field, and says it will not affect them ahead of the much-anticipated clash with Wales at Twickenham in September.

"It didn't affect them in the Six Nations, they had a lot of players out but they came away from home and beat us," Warburton said. "They deserve a massive amount of credit for that.

"I've met Dylan Hartley, he's a great lad and he will be a big loss for them because he's a very good captain and leader.

"The same with Manu - I was hugely impressed when I played with him for the Lions.

"But I think England have got great strength in depth and they proved that against us in Cardiff. They will be okay."

Warburton was speaking ahead of Wales' trips to Switzerland and Qatar, where they will undergo "brutal" training camps in gruelling conditions, but the flanker says he relishes the physical challenge of these trips.

"These camps are brutal," Warburton said. "But I'd rather be training in Switzerland or Qatar than out at war in God knows where, where the army goes.

"People always say 'Is it scary?' but it's just training and it's immensely tough, and I actually love it. I love that feeling of once you have been blasted and you finish you know the benefits you get from it will be huge.

"Even when I'm on holiday I go running on the beach or do something and tell my wife I'm just going to run up and down gently. But in the end she will come over and see me killing myself doing sprints. I just can't help it. If I am training I just have to do it full-on."