NEWCASTLE Falcons centre Jamie Noon has admitted that this afternoon's international with France represents a "make or break" opportunity to win a place in England's World Cup squad.

England coach Brian Ashton will name his 30-man squad on Tuesday, and centre is one of the few positions left to be finalised. Noon is competing with the likes of Mike Catt, Dan Hipkiss, Andy Farrell and club-mate Mathew Tait for a place on the plane to France.

The 28-year-old, who did not feature in last weekend's 62-5 thrashing of Wales, will play alongside Catt at Twickenham.

And after missing the majority of the Six Nations championship, Noon is aware that today's performance could prove crucial to his chances.

"There are lots of factors Brian will be considering," said the Newcastle back. "But one of them will definitely be form. The World Cup is not that far away now, so players showing a bit of form will obviously have an edge over some of their rivals.

"It's a difficult situation because the France match is a tough one in it's own right and it's not going to be a case of just going out there to try to put on some kind of an individual show.

"Rugby is a team game and it has to be about the team doing well but, hopefully, if that happens, it will enable individual players to show what they're capable of.

"It won't just be about going on silky runs - the coaches in the stand will be looking to see what unselfish running you're doing and what your defensive work is like as well.

"It's wrong to say that everything will hinge on this one game, but it's obviously going to be very important."

Noon was a wide-eyed supporter when England claimed the World Cup crown in Australia four years ago but, after gradually working his way into the national team under Ashton's predecessor, Andy Robinson, he is now desperate to be involved in the defence of the trophy.

"It's always been one of my long-term goals," he added. "As a young player you tend to dream of representing your country. Once you've done that, you want to play for them on the biggest stage of them all.

"Playing in the World Cup would be incredible, but I can't afford to think about that too much before the squad has even been named."

Ashton claims he is "pretty close" to finalising his plans, but injuries continue to cast a shadow over his preparations.

Lewis Moody became the latest casualty when he suffered a minor calf muscle tear during training yesterday, and the Leicester flanker will be replaced by Joe Worsley in today's side, with Bath forward Steve Borthwick taking a place among the replacements.

Ashton has already lost Bristol number eight Dan Ward-Smith and Harlequins wing David Strettle from World Cup contention this week, and Mike Tindall (leg), Mark Cueto (groin), Peter Richards (back) and Tom Rees (hamstring) are all nursing injuries ahead of Tuesday's announcement.

Today, Ashton will field ten players who weren't involved in last weekend's record-breaking victory and, as well as Noon, the likes of Olly Barkley, Ben Kay, James Haskell and Danny Cipriani will all be out to impress.