Mike Brown: 'England will cope without Manu Tuilagi'

Mike Brown has insisted that England will cope without Manu Tuilagi at the Rugby World Cup.

The Leicester Tigers centre will miss the tournament after being convicted of assaulting two police officers.

While he admits that it is a "blow" for England to lose the 23-year-old, Brown believes that there is enough talent in the squad to fill the void this summer.

"It's a big blow – he's a world-class player who played for the Lions, and a phenomenal athlete," he told Sky Sports News. "But this just shows that everyone knows the standards that have been set and if don't uphold them then you won't play for England.

"It must have been tough for Stuart [Lancaster] to make that decision. But we have got quality players and we showed that in the Six Nations. Look how Jonathan Joseph has come along since then.

"We'll move forward as a team and hopefully Manu will move forward as an individual and learn from it, and hopefully the whole squad will learn, not that they don't already know, that they have to uphold our standards."

England's Rugby World Cup squad is due to be announced on Wednesday.