Stuart Lancaster will not select “flash” individuals for next year’s Rugby World Cup and has challenged England’s players to pursue the high standards set by Jonny Wilkinson. The head coach has stressed he can no longer make allowances for erratic performers after announcing an autumn Test squad lacking Danny Cipriani, Chris Ashton, Freddie Burns and Ben Foden.

In theory the door will remain open for Cipriani and Ashton but Lancaster, having chosen Northampton’s Stephen Myler and Bath’s uncapped Semesa Rokoduguni instead, madeit clear he increasingly sees reliability as more valuable than the occasional moment of magic.

“To be the best it’s not about the flash stuff,” he said. “It’s actually about skill execution and doing everything at a very high level. If we take Jonny Wilkinson as the benchmark, he didn’t get everything right all the time and it wasn’t always flash but he was incredibly consistent. It’s about backing up one standout game with another, not a standout game followed by a 7/10 performance. It needs to be 9/10.”

Lancaster also emphasised he had not picked Myler as his third fly-half behind Owen Farrell and George Ford on a whim. “Game management is one of the key things we look for in our fly-halves. An accurate kicking game, goal-kicking … Stephen Myler probably tops those stats. The message Danny and Freddie have both received is that everything is important. Consistency of skill execution, taking the ball to the line, goal-kicking, finding touch.

“Everything becomes part of your picture as a coach. Our players have to be very good at everything.”

Lancaster hinted that Brad Barritt and Kyle Eastmond would be England’s starting centres against New Zealand at Twickenham on 8 November.

Chris Robshaw has been reappointed as England’s captain for the QBE autumn series, with Lancaster suggesting the former Harlequins captain would be suitably motivated by people questioning his place in the team. “He is tough, he is resilient and he always responds to a challenge. That brings the best out of him, I think.”

The head coach warned England supporters not to underestimate Australia, who have confirmed Michael Cheika as their new coach on a three-year contract.

“He’ll bring an intensity to the team that will make them formidable opponents in November,” Lancaster said. “We don’t see them as being weakened … they are going to be very difficult to beat.”

• This article was amended on 24 October 2014. An earlier version referred to Chris Robshaw as “the Harlequins captain”.