George Ford one of seven dropped by England for Ireland clash

Eddie Jones has dropped fly-half George Ford for England’s final Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday at Twickenham.

Should that happen and France and Scotland both win, or even if France suffer a narrow defeat, England, who have not been out of the top two in the last seven years, could finish outright fifth – their worst performance since 1983.

Ireland make one change to the team which defeated Scotland with lock Iain Henderson replacing Devin Toner for this clash.

Jones also reshaped the back-row after tournament-ending injuries to Nathan Hughes and Courtney Lawes.

Prop Cole is on the bench with Kyle Sinckler the starting tighthead prop.

“This time previous year we were scrambling around, we thought Conor Murray was going to play on the Thursday, and Kieran Marmion came in and did superbly”, said Schmidt.

Just 24 hours earlier – footage of the England boss speaking at a paid for Commercial event in Japan was released on the internet.

Jones has turned to ex-Leinster centre Ben Te’o in what will be a battle of the gain line against Bundee Aki.

Half-back – Ireland have arguably the best half-back pairing in the world in Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray, and the duo have been crucial to this Six Nations title. But we’ll get them back, we’ll get them back don’t worry, we’ve got them next year at home, we’ll get them back, we’ll get them back. “It’ part of our game that we need to improve and we’re working hard on the detail”.

He rejected on Thursday, however, the suggestion that Joe Schmidt’s team would pay the comments much attention. I ‘m happy to obviously answer questions on a fantastic game that’s coming up but I think the other matter is dead.

Wielding the axe, Jones has made wholesale changes to his side to face grand slam chasing Ireland. Will the pressure inspire England to deliver a much-needed win in front of their own fans, or will it cause more cracks to appear? “Ireland are worthy champions but we are going out there to prove that we are still a very, very good team and we will prove that on Saturday”.

Jones made a decision to perform major surgery to his team following England’s 22-16 loss to France in Paris last weekend – a defeat that ended their hopes of a third successive Six Nations title under the Australian coach. Who knows Wales? Are there any Welsh people here?

Now on eight points, should they lose in Rome, the Scots would finish fifth.