England head coach Stuart Lancaster has told his group of players to "expect a lot of hard work" in the coming weeks as preparations step up ahead of this autumn's Rugby World Cup.

The Red Rose hopefuls, currently made up of 50 players, arrived at Pennyhill Park on Monday to be put through their paces.

Lancaster must cut his bloated squad down to 31 players prior to the showpiece competition, which he believes will see competition increase in training.

"The players can expect a lot of hard work," he told the official England Rugby site. "They will have to train like they have never trained before.

"Club pre-seasons are equally tough but it is more the competitiveness here when you know you are fighting for that shirt. The first three weeks will be tough on the players. Then we go to Denver - it should get even tougher."

England get their World Cup campaign underway against Fiji at Twickenham on September 18.