England plan high-altitude training in Glendale, Colorado

Originally published at espnscrum.com

Stuart Lancaster will take his squad for high-altitude training in the USA in the build-up to next autumn's Rugby World Cup, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The fitness of many of the England squad was criticised internally after the series whitewash in New Zealand and this move is a bid to ensure that is not the case next year.

England's expanded 50-player squad will travel to Denver - which is almost 6000 feet above sea level - in July for a two-week training camp. They will be based at Infinity Park, in the suburb of Glendale, the home of the Glendale Raptors and a venue known as Rugbytown USA. The facility is known to Lancaster from when he coached England Saxons at the 2009 Churchill Cup.

The newspaper said that plans to take the team away have been under discussion for several months, with the fear that there was a danger of them becoming stale in what promises to be a long run-in to the tournament.

The squad will have a one-month break in June, returning for two weeks of training at Pennyhill Park before heading to Denver. It is possible the side will play a training game against the USA during their stay.

The side will return to England at the end of the month for another week's break before warm-up matches against France (home and away) and Ireland in August.