England coach Martin Johnson has admitted that leaving Riki Flutey out of his World Cup squad was a “tough” decision.

The 31-year-old was axed from the 30-man squad in favour of three scrum-halves.

"Would I love to have Riki on the plane? Of course I would," Sky Sports News quotes Johnson as saying.

"It was tough on Riki, who has done nothing wrong. We just felt that was the best way to go.

"Someone like Riki would have been ideal [to cover at 10]. He can play a bit of nine too but you have to make a call somewhere.”

The national side will kick off their World Cup campaign with a clash against Argentina on September 10.