Ben Youngs pays price as England coach wields axe for Calcutta Cup crunch

Ben Youngs has been dropped to the bench following England's defeat by France last weekend. Picture: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty

As Jones said “we’re not hiding from the fact that we want to take them [Scotland] on up front”, the most eye-catching alteration in a significant shake-up was the demotion of long-serving scrum-half  Ben Youngs to the bench, with Willi Heinz starting instead.

Youngs has been easily the most regular occupant of the England No 9 jersey during Jones’s time in charge since the start of 2016, starting 37 of the 44 Tests the Leicester man has played. The last time the 30-year-old Youngs was on the bench without an  argument for it being against lower-grade opposition, or a partial rest, was the Grand Slam match in France four years ago.

Jones always rails against what he calls the “stigma” that a place among his “finishers” is any less important than being a starter – even though in the Australian’s own recently-published autobiography he twice referred to stand-off George Ford being “dropped”, for Tests against Ireland and South Africa in 2018.

“Eddie is trying to get the best out of that [scrum-half] position for 80 minutes,” said Owen Farrell, the England captain, yesterday. “In general, [Heinz is] calmer and Ben is fast-paced, in your face and constantly at you. Willi is good at that, too, in defence.” While Jones said of Heinz, the 33-year-old New Zealander who plays for Gloucester: “Great experience, good calm head, makes good decisions, core skills are good. Good team man.”

The other switches from the side beaten 24-17 by the French include Jonathan Joseph in place of the injured Manu Tuilagi at outside centre alongside Ford and Farrell – a trio last seen starting when England lost 25-13 at Murrayfield two years ago. With Jones choosing a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench for only the fifth time in his 51-match tenure, Joseph would be expected to shift to the wing in the event of a back-three injury.

The return of loosehead  prop Mako Vunipola after he was rested in Paris had been promised by Jones while, elsewhere in the pack, the back five who finished against the French start, as George Kruis steps up from the bench to resume his club second-row partnership with Maro Itoje, and Northampton’s Lewis Ludlam takes Courtney Lawes’s starting spot at blindside flanker.

Tom Curry stays at No 8 although Ludlam could do duty there if required. Wasps’ Joe Launchbury returns on the bench with Charlie Ewels out of the 23 all together.

Jones also revealed he receives verbal abuse “every day” as he confirmed he would fly home from Scotland with the rest of the England squad on Sunday. After the  corresponding match in 2018 he took a train to be a guest of Sir Alex Ferguson at a  Manchester United v Chelsea football match, and was  jostled and sworn at by Scots outside a station in Manchester. Three men from  Edinburgh ended up in court and paid fines for public-order offences.

Jones insisted yesterday the incident “wasn’t of any significance at all”, and he quipped: “I have checked the Premier League schedule and I am not going to any games… I am going directly home”.

But he added: “What do you reckon when I walk on the street, what happens? Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day. If you didn’t want it, you don’t do this job.”