Northampton, Leicester players join England World Cup training squad

England have added Northampton and Leicester players, including Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs, to their squad as they step up preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France.

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Steve Borthwick's extended 38-man group, training in Brighton from Monday, includes players from both beaten Premiership semi-finalists but does not include those from Sale and Saracens, who faced each other in the final.

"After an excellent first week's training, we are very much looking forward to being in Brighton," said Borthwick.

"We're pleased to welcome players from Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers who can now start to integrate themselves into the group, and we look forward to players from Sale Sharks and Saracens joining us in a fortnight.

"The first phase of our preparation continues to focus on ensuring the players are physically equipped for what we need to do in a World Cup campaign. That means the training will be tough and purposeful."

England men's head coach Steve Borthwick has named an expanded 38-player training squad for the second Rugby World Cup preparation camp in BrightonPlayers from Premiership finalists Saracens and Sale are not available for selection

England face Wales twice, Ireland and Fiji in August before launching their World Cup campaign against Argentina in Marseille on 9 September.

The final England World Cup squad of 33 players will be announced on 7 August.