Saturday’s Test match against France certainly answered some of the questions that Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team had about individuals and units within their squad however some still remain.

But the former South Sydney NRL premiership victor will have to wait a bit longer to find out if his code switch has been a success, with Lancaster saying he will leave it as late as possible to make a final decision on the centres in his squad.

Full-back Mike Brown makes his first appearance since facing France in March after recovering from concussion and his Harlequins team-mate Chris Robshaw is back at the helm.

Brad Barritt, who has a calf strain, will be the only player not to feature in either of the warm-up games but is certain to be picked for the squad.

The soaring stock of Sam Burgess and Henry Slade since their impressive displays in the 19-14 victory over France at Twickenham, however, has now cast some doubt over Burrell’s automatic inclusion.

“That particular decision around the centre combination will go down to the wire”.

The Northampton star has been paired with Jonathan Joseph for the reverse fixture against Les Bleus in Paris on Saturday, with Lancaster warning “players like him must deliver on the big stage”. “You can never say never and you can’t guarantee it, but I think the squad are in a really good place”.

But he also mentioned that in his face-to-face review meeting with Slade he had spent at least part of it talking of the opportunities that would be open to him once this World Cup is done and dusted: hardly the newcomer’s subject of choice, if truth be told.

“When we name the 31, clearly these two against France will have had a bearing, but what’s happened over the course of the last eight weeks in training will have had a bigger bearing”.

He said: “Luther is desperate to get a game”. All of England’s pencilled in starters are being pushed by those behind them and at this point every player knows that to keep their jersey they have to excel in it and that hasn’t always been the case.

Prop Alex Corbisiero is troubled by sciatic nerve pain, ruling him out of Saturday, and Lancaster insists he needs to prove his fitness.

“It will be a big test for him to see if he can deal with the pressure”.

Danny Cirpiani, however, will be given another opportunity off the bench as he looks to stake his claim.