England coach Stuart Lancaster says Sam Burgess has earned a shot at inside centre off the back of impressive training performances and has challenged the cross-code star to star against France on Saturday.

Burgess is one of four debutants in the matchday squad for the first QBE international on Saturday but his inclusion comes after half a season of union. His recent union forays have been at blindside but Lancaster sees his international future in the centres as part of the gameplan that combines a ball carrier and a more fleet-footed option at outside centre.

Burgess has been with the England squad since the outset of their World Cup preparations in June and was previously praised for his performances on their training camp in Denver. Saturday's match will be the acid test for Burgess and Lancaster is looking forward to seeing how he fares in what is an experimental side.

"This isn't the team that's going to play against Fiji, this is the team to look at options for us," Lancaster said. "What I've said all along is that we need a balance in our backline, a balance of ball players, carriers and finishers. Sam ticks the ball carriers."

He added: "There are still six centre left and there are three centres - Barritt, Burrell and Joseph - not playing this weekend, so the slots available are getting narrow.

"He's [Burgess] up against two other good players as well, but it's actually about what's right for the team. 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."

While Burgess is making his Test debut, for No.8 Ben Morgan, it will be his first competitive game since he broke his leg in January and Lancaster is adamant he is ready for international rugby.

"There were components of last week's training that he didn't do right at the start of the week but once he ticked those final boxes then he was 100 percent good to go," Lancaster said of Morgan. "So he has come through that well and the reality is that you haven't got any other games to find out.

"We have got this game or an away game in France and by then you have to name your 31-man squad. I am 100 per cent confident he is ready to play the game but obviously it is going to be a big step for him.

"He is training well. He is confident and he wants to play and as a consequence we need to have a look at him. It is not ideal. In an ideal world you wouldn't have an eight-month injury but that is what happens sometimes. He has got an opportunity to put his marker down but equally we have got other back row options to consider as well."

Lancaster will empty the bench at some stage in the second-half and he is hoping to get three different benefits from the match.

"We are looking forward to the game and there's only so much training you can do against each other. The primary objective is to win.

"Second is to see where we're at in terms of our preparations because we've done a lot of work physically and on the rugby field, so it will be good to see where we're at.

"The third and most important is to narrow down the selection decisions. If you look at the guys not involved in the team this weekend, there's a lot of experienced players who will get the opportunity a week on Saturday, but for us the priority has to be to get this team ready and put in a strong performance on Saturday."