RUGBY'S U21 World Cup will be played at altitude in Argentina, and Simon Whatling hopes to reach lofty heights for England which will yield a career in the Zurich Premiership.

The former Devizes School student was contacted by officials at his club Worcester on Tuesday with news of his place in England's 26 man U21 World Cup squad, before the official announcement was made by the RFU last night.

Currently locked in contract negotiations with Worcester, the selection comes as a great boost to the stocky centre, and follows on from his solid performance in this season's U21 Six Nations.

"It's a huge weight off my shoulders," said the 20-year-old former Devizes School student.

"It's full steam ahead now, back up to full training and concentrating on being at full strength for the first game," he said.

The former Devizes and Chippenham junior is no stranger to the English Rose, representing his country at U16 and U18 level and experiencing a Six Nations campaign and a World Cup in South Africa while in the national U19 squad throughout the 2002/03 season.

But going into his first year of full senior rugby in 2005/06, this most recent World Cup selection is a huge endorsement as Whatling competes for a contract in the cut throat world of professional rugby.

"It's fantastic to be selected, absolutely brilliant, but it's another crucial step in my development too.

"Next season I want to be cementing a place in a first team squad, and performing at a World Cup can only help that," he said.

A junior at both Devizes and Chippenham, Whatling was one of the first crop of players to come through Bath Rugby's academy system of development but struggled for notoriety throughout the 2002/03 season, competing with a glut of centres at the club for a first team position, including the likes of Mike Tindall and Chippenham's Alex Crockett.

He was cast adrift by the South West Premiership outfit, at which time he said support from parents David and Lynda, who still live in the family home in Lawrence Close, Devizes, was incredibly important.

Worcester expressed an interest and he moved north, starting two games and playing three off the bench in England's stuttering U21 Six Nation's campaign this season, while filling a regular place in the Zurich A League side for his club.

Whatling was renited with former Bath team mates, Chris Goodman, Dan Smith and Wootton Bassett's Mike Baxter when he played for Worcester at the Rec on Monday night last week, but came away from the match with a broken finger.

But it will take much more than a damaged pinkie to hold back Whatling as he vies for selection in the starting lineup for England's first pool game on June 9 against Samoa, South Africa on June 13 and France on June 17. The squad departs on June 3, the finals take place on June 25, and they return on June 27.