George Ford dropped for England’s Six Nations finale against Ireland

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

Owen Farrell will start at No 10 alongside Richard Wigglesworth at No 9, with Danny Care not named among the starters. Ben Te’o and Jonathan Joseph will partner in the centres. Anthony Watson will resume duties at full back alongside Elliot Daly and Jonny May on the wings, leaving Mike Brown on the replacements bench.

Dylan Harley returns to lead the side at hooker in a punchy front row that features Kyle Sinckler and Mako Vunipola. Joe Launchbury misses out, and Maro Itoje will pair up with George Kruis in the second row.

Jones, who on Wednesday was forced to apologise for derogatory comments in which he referred to the Irish as “scummy” and Wales as a “little shit place”, delayed the team announcement to get final injury updates on Hartley and Daly, who were recovering from calf and foot injuries respectively. He reiterated his apology but refused to be drawn on the matter

“I apologise for the remarks,” he said. “I sincerely mean that and I really don’t have anything else to say on the matter. I’m happy to answer questions on the game coming up, but the other matter is dead. I’ve made a statement, I don’t have to say anything else on it.”

Don Armand, who was called up by Jones, has not been selected in the side, with the back row made up of Chris Robshaw, James Haskell and Sam Simmonds.

Jones added: “We just felt we needed to make some changes for this game. We need to get on the front foot against Ireland and we’ve selected a team to do that. It’s good to have Dylan back from injury, he trained superbly yesterday. We’ve gone for a Farrell-Te’o-Joseph midfield, and we’re sure they can get us on the front foot.”

Ireland’s coach Joe Schmidt said Jones’ comments about the country will not alter his side’s approach this week. “I’m not exactly sure what they were,” said Schmidt. “They are not directly relevant to us to be honest. Those words don’t impact on how we play or how his team plays and that’s our focus.”

Asked if the furore over Jones’ comments will hinder Ireland’s preparation, Schmidt said: “I don’t think so. I know it’s probably at the stage of being boring, which we don’t want to be described as, but the bubble we have here allows us to focus on the task in hand.”

Iain Henderson has dislodged Devin Toner at lock to start for Ireland. Peter O’Mahony, Rob Kearney and Cian Healy have been passed fit as Ireland aim for a Six Nations clean sweep.

Henderson’s selection is the sole change from Ireland’s 28-8 win over Scotland, that sealed their third Six Nations title in five years. Flanker O’Mahony and full-back Kearney sat out training on Tuesday, but have since proved their fitness to start the St Patrick’s Day match. Prop Healy appeared unsteady on his feet against Scotland, but Ireland insisted he suffered a shoulder “stinger”, not a head injury.

England and Ireland teams