Simpson hoping for England call

Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson remains hopeful of staking a claim to be in England's World Cup squad after recovering from a knee injury.

The 26-year-old strained his medial collateral ligament in the 26-21 defeat to Leicester on May 9, which caused him to miss the last game of the Aviva Premiership season and also cost him a place in Stuart Lancaster's 45-man summer training squad.

But after six weeks of treatment and rehabilitation Simpson completed his first running session on Friday and is expected to be at full tilt when both Wasps and England reconvene for pre-season training.

"I'm just hoping I get the call from England to show what I can do in training to give myself a chance to make the World Cup squad," he said on Wasps' official website.

Simpson, who cut his summer break short to focus on his recovery, became only the second player to win his first cap for England in a Rugby World Cup tournament when he replaced Ben Youngs against Georgia in the pool stages in 2011.

That remains his only full England cap to date, but Simpson is hoping to pick up where he left off after impressing last season to make a compelling case for inclusion.

"I only missed one match, the last game of the season, and that is a real positive," Simpson added.

"I knew that, if everything went to plan and I worked hard with the physios I could get back in time for pre-season with Wasps and England.

"I'm on course for that and I should be back in the next couple of weeks, starting pre-season with Wasps on Wednesday."

He added: "We had a great season at Wasps. We played some superb rugby and I had a really enjoyable season. I felt really confident and think I was playing the best rugby of my life."