by Our Sports Desk

England’s bid for Rugby World Cup 2015 glory has been boosted by Stuart Lancaster securing Pennyhill Park as the host nation’s main training base.

Head coach Lancaster has opted to keep England at their accustomed Bagshot headquarters for as long as possible during the pool stages of the 2015 tournament.

England could even stay at their normal Surrey base for all but one fixture in the whole competition, should they top Pool A and progress to the final.

Lancaster’s men will base themselves in Salford for their final Pool A match on Saturday October 10 at the City of Manchester Stadium.

England will play three of their four pool contests at Twickenham and will gain clear benefit from sticking to well-practised routines.

Rugby World Cup organisers have confirmed 41 training bases will be used throughout the tournament in September and October next year.

“It’s great to have Pennyhill Park as our training base,” said Lancaster.

“It’s a place we are used to — the facilities are first-class, especially with the new training centre.”

Wales are perhaps the next biggest winners in the team base allocation, with half of their Pool A preparations taking place at their usual home The Vale Resort.

Warren Gatland’s men will play two of their four group matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff but also take on Australia and England at Twickenham.

Wales will also be based at London Irish’s newly completed all-purpose training complex Hazelwood.

Gatland is expected to mirror RBS Six Nations trips to Twickenham, with Wales aiming to travel to London Irish’s set-up in midweek before their weekend clashes in the English capital.

“The selection of team bases are extremely important for the squad’s preparation and we were very impressed with the packages on offer from the approved venues,” said Gatland.

“We are very familiar with The Vale and their pedigree for hosting sporting teams is second to none.

“In addition the new Hazlewood complex is another great base, which really suits our needs.”

Pennyhill Park and The Vale Resort are among the eight training bases for the tournament’s knockout stages.

Chief executive Debbie Jevans believes organising committee England Rugby 2015 will provide all 20 competing nations with first-class bases.

“We are lucky to have some fantastic facilities right across the country and the enthusiasm to be part of the tournament has been really encouraging,” said Jevans.