Lancaster: All Blacks are favourites
England coach, Stuart Lancaster believes the All Blacks are favourites to retain their World Cup crown but believes several teams have a realistic chance of lifting the trophy at Twickenham on October 31, 2015.
England have had a torrid time in recent fixtures, Losing to the All Blacks and Springboks in the November Internationals but will draw confidence from beating Samoa and Australia when they return to action in February, as they begin preparations for the 2015 World Cup.
"The real strength of this World Cup in 2015 is the vast number of teams that can potentially win it.
"New Zealand are number one in the world, and quite rightly so, but if you look across the board there are six, seven or eight teams that have the potential to win. That's what makes it such an exciting tournament this time round," he added.
Lancaster has his own set of problems with hooker Dylan Hartley picking up his fifth ban of his career after he received a three-week suspension for elbowing Leicester's Matt Smith during Northampton's 23-19 Premiership victory on December 20.
Hartley is likely to be a key member of England's World Cup squad and Lancaster said he would talk to the player before the Six Nations.
"He will have been disappointed in himself, to put himself in that position. I will have a conversation with him," said Lancaster.
Meanwhile, Lancaster said Sam Burgess has time to force his way into the England setup after switching codes from league in October.
The 26-year-old moved to Premiership side Bath from NRL outfit South Sydney and has played at centre and blindside flank for his new club.
"We have two more Premiership games and two rounds of Europe to go before we name the squads. He has made a tremendous start in the sport. He is doing really well but we need to give him time," he added.
