Lancaster waiting over Cipriani

Head coach Stuart Lancaster has begun the process of honing England into a cohesive unit capable of winning the Rugby World Cup, but the initial focus is on the absentees and the potential decision required over Danny Cipriani.

England began their summer training camp on Monday without centre Manu Tuilagi and hooker Dylan Hartley, who will miss the tournament after Lancaster responded decisively to recent lapses in judgement.

Wing David Strettle has withdrawn from the squad ahead of a switch from Saracens to Clermont Auvergne, while Cipriani could join the absentee list.

The Sale fly-half was arrested on suspicion of drink driving earlier this month and must wait until early August to discover the outcome of a police investigation.

For the time being he remains part of Lancaster's initial 50-man squad for the World Cup, which will be cut to 31 ahead of the opening match with Fiji at Twickenham on September 18.

Lancaster said: "(I am) waiting to see what the police investigation will determine.

"At the moment he's not been charged with anything so as a consequence is in camp and training as everyone else is.

"We'll wait and see whether the police will charge or not as the case may be and I'll deal with it as and when it's appropriate."

Lancaster expects Cipriani to be able to go to the United States for the forthcoming high-altitude training camp in Denver, Colorado.

"My understanding is he went to the States anyway after the incident, he flew the following day, so he's been to the States already," Lancaster said.

Strettle is not alongside Cipriani in the squad, having told Lancaster of his wish to concentrate on his switch to France's Top 14.

"He rang me towards the end of last week," Lancaster added.

"He'd been to France, he considered his options and alternatives and decided to withdraw from the camp. Obviously I was disappointed.

"I was really (surprised), but ultimately it's his decision. I've got to respect his decision."

Bath wing Semesa Rokoduguni has replaced him and will leave his break in Fiji imminently to join up with England, while Wasps' Christian Wade remains in the selectors' minds.

"Whilst he'll miss week one of the camp, he won't miss anything he can't catch up on," Lancaster said.

Lancaster is already nearly halfway through his one-to-one consultations with the 50 members of his squad.

But day one included a group meeting in which he reminded the group of their responsibilities, having ruled he would not consider Tuilagi and Hartley to off and on-field indiscretions.

Lancaster recalled his first training camp as head coach, ahead of the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.

He was then overseeing a culture change required in the aftermath of England's embarrassing 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, which was punctuated by off-field controversy.

"We talked about what we stand for as a group, what we're about and also the foundations of how you build a winning team," Lancaster said.

"I took them a little bit back to when we first met in January 2012 in Leeds and what we talked about then.

"I think there were about 20 players in the room yesterday at the talk that were in the room in Leeds when we first met.

"It was a good reminder for them and a good indication about how far we've come as a group.

"It was my way of just setting the scene and part of that is accepting your responsibility as a role model."

The England head coach expressed frustration that omissions have been forced upon him, but spoke of the priority of the team.

"It's not ideal that you're in that position where you're having to make decisions like that, particularly when they're high quality players," he said.

"You tend not to look back once a decision's been made. You tend to look forward.

"You're very much in the here and now and deal with the players who are sitting in front of you."

Lancaster spoke of excitement, high stakes and the intensity of internal competition within the group.

He added: "Now it's just about trying to hold them back because they're desperate to go."