By Luke Baker

WITH Chris Robshaw in the same position, it is never going to be easy for Matt Kvesic to earn international playing time but Lewis Moody admits he is keen to see the Gloucester man start to pressurise the England captain.

Kvesic is invariably on the fringes of the England squad but won the last of his two caps against Argentina back in June 2013.

However, the openside flanker is currently part of Stuart Lancaster’s 45-man pre-World Cup training squad ahead of the group being cut to 31 before the tournament begins on September 18.

The back-row is a position of relative strength for the Red Rose at the moment but while Kvesic may not have the name recognition of some of his more illustrious contemporaries, Moody – who lifted the World Cup in 2003 – is confident the 23-year-old can carve out a niche for himself.

“You look in the back row and you’ve got Morgan and Vunipola and Wood and Haskell all competing for playing time,” said Moody, speaking at the Land Rover Experience Centre in Devon as part of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour.

“Then there’s Kvesic as well but he’s just not as strong, for me. If he gets an opportunity that he seizes with open hands then that would be wonderful.

“Whether it’s because he’s at Gloucester and they’ve struggled a bit or whatever it is, his form over the last two seasons has just dropped off.

“So if he could seize his opportunity that would be wonderful because you need someone to put pressure on Robshaw.”

Before England start their campaign to win a second World Cup against Fiji at Twickenham, they face two warm-up games against France and one against Ireland.

Those games should not only provide clarification as to Lancaster’s best starting XV but will also hopefully signal an upturn in form, with the Red Rose having lost six of their last 12 internationals.

That form stands in stark contrast to the 2003 World Cup triumph, when the final was the culmination of 20 months of dominance – during which time England won 22 games and lost just once.

And Moody believes it is vital that Lancaster’s troops hit their straps in the warm-up games.

“Touch wood everybody will stay fit, Stuart will know his starting XV going into that last friendly and they’ll head into the World Cup with some real confidence having won three friendlies,” added Moody.

“But if they lose some of those warm-ups, and playing against France and Ireland is tough, that could really hurt them. Those friendly games are hugely important.”

Lewis Moody is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover is a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015 and is recruiting all 96 official mascots for the tournament as part of its 'We Deal In Real' campaign. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal