England scrum-half Ben Youngs has said that England must start their 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign on the front foot.

Their first test sees them take on Fiji at Twickenham on Friday, and Youngs has said that his side must "put a statement out" early in the tournament.

"You've got to put teams to bed early, especially Fiji because of the threats they have," he is quoted as saying by the Guardian. "We need to make sure we're not feeding their belief.

"We've got to appreciate Fiji haven't got that weight of expectation on their shoulders. They can express themselves and throw the kitchen sink at us.

"Having said that, we want to put a statement out that says: 'We're here to try and win it.' We've got to make sure we do that through our actions in the first game.

Young started England's final warm-up game, a 21-13 victory over Ireland.