England interim head coach Stuart Lancaster claims competitive training sessions give his fringe players an opportunity to win a shirt.
Lancaster got his tenure off to a winning, albeit unconvincing, start on Saturday as England triumphed 13-6 against Scotland at Murrayfield in their Six Nations curtain-raiser.
And, looking ahead to this Saturday's trip to face Italy in Rome, Lancaster insisted that his starting XV will be largely determined by how well the players perform during this week's training sessions, starting on Tuesday.
"You make training competitive and that's one of the things I've tried to do, certainly over the last two weeks,'' said Lancaster.
"For example when we do 15 v 15 tomorrow, I'll try to make it so that the players who are on the fringes or are on the bench get a genuine opportunity to play.
"The session will be competitive, allowing the players to show their skills rather than just give them a bib and tell them to be a defender.
"It's when you get that competition and desire for the shirt that you really start to get high performances.
"Everyone has to train well. I place as much importance on how players conduct themselves in training during the week as on what they do at the weekend.
"I want to create a mindset where people are thinking about being excellent every day because that's what it takes to keep or gain the shirt."