Cipriani out of England squad

England coach Stuart Lancaster will confirm his final 31 players for the World Cup on Thursday.

Cipriani, 27, has already been told personally by Lancaster that he has not made the squad.

But despite being dropped, Cipriani will still take part in a practice match on Wednesday afternoon, which will be used by Lancaster to make a final decision on whether Sam Burgess or Luther Burrell will make the cut.

The decision to drop Cipriani comes just four days after he was named Man of the Match against France, despite only making a 17-minute cameo appearance out of position.

Cipriani was deployed at fullback for his time on the pitch.

His try scoring performance led to spectators and pundits calling for his inclusion, but it appears Lancaster had already made up his mind.

Lancaster remained reserved in his praise for his performance at the Stade de France, who instead gave credit to the collective effort of the reserves.

However, the England coach is believed to have described the decision to leave Cipriani out of the squad, as one of the hardest of the whole selection process.

Cipriani thanked his fans for the support ahead of the official announcement.

"Can't tell you how much the support means to me. We all go through our journey in life and learn lessons. I know I've made mistakes, some criticised rightly or wrongly. Just a quick thanks to all the nice messages. Really appreciate it," Cipriani wrote on the social media.

Stuart Lancaster must now choose seven further players to leave out before he announces his final World Cup squad on Thursday.