England coach Stuart Lancaster has an embarrassment of riches to choose from in the second-row but George Kruis insists he can reach the top of the pecking order ahead of the World Cup.

Kruis capitalised on injuries to both Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury last season to assert himself within the England camp and his cause was only helped by success with club side Saracens.

The 25-year-old started for Saracens as they blitzed Bath to win the Premiership Final – and it’s of little surprise that eight of his teammates will join him on the plane to Denver this weekend as England’s training camp continues.

Nevertheless, Kruis must fight his way into contention amid a group of locks that also contains a British & Irish Lion in Geoff Parling, and he’s leaving nothing to chance.

“It's certainly no-one's place yet. Everyone is fighting for it,” he said. “You're always paired up against the other second rowers in all the fitness games you do, so there is definitely a competitive nature there.

“We've got some awesome second-rowers in and around the setup, not even only the seven that are here – some quality players missed out on the squad as well.

“There's definitely a lot of confidence I can take from last season.

“It is only five weeks or so since we were playing in a Premiership final, and that buzz is still in the back of the mind a little bit.

“But this is a completely different ball game here. We play differently and you have to adjust your mindset to what you are doing right now.

“My body definitely needed the small break I had after playing a lot of long hard games towards the end of the year, but coming into the camp I felt very refreshed and very positive.”

Kruis was a casualty of the England team that lost to Ireland earlier this year, a result that effectively took the Six Nations title out of their hands.

And though the former St John’s School pupil has already had some lows to deal with in his fledging England career, he is adamant he’s all the better for it.

“It's been quality experience,” added Kruis. “In terms of your career playing for England is the pinnacle of that, and to have been able to play so many games at home has been awesome.

“It's what you want to be doing on a rugby pitch, and you build up to it in your career.

“I had my family and friends watching and it's been a very proud moment for me.

“I think I've done well on the pitch. It was really tough being dropped during the Six Nations off the back of the Ireland game, but I thought I had been going alright.

“It shows the quality of the second rowers I guess, that there were very experienced players able to come back in, and that's what they went with.

“If they say it's an experience thing, you just have to trust the coaches on that, and I'm just hoping for another opportunity.”

George Kruis was appearing alongside his England team mates at the launch of the innovative England Rugby World Cup shirt #CommittedtoEngland. Visit Canterbury.com