Owen Farrell Cian Tracey: ‘Te’o axed as Jones puts his Japan cards on the table early ‘

If Joe Schmidt had his way, he wouldn’t name his World Cup squad until the last possible second, but Eddie Jones has taken a different approach in revealing his hand almost six weeks before England begin their campaign against Tonga.

In doing so, Jones has nailed his colours to the mast as he looks to build the confidence levels of the lucky ones who made the cut.

Of course, the idea that all 31 players will actually be fit enough to board the plane to Japan remains unlikely, particularly with injury doubts hanging over Jack Nowell and Tom Curry.

Then, when you consider the fact that like Ireland who England will meet in Twickenham on August 24, Jones’ men have three warm-up games left to play, it means there is plenty of road to run before they can properly assess where they lie.

There were plenty of talking points from Jones’ selection as the winners and losers reflect on what lies ahead.

Te’o pays the price

The Australian-born Ben Te’o has already been included in a (rugby league) World Cup squad with Samoa back in 2008, but his hopes of representing England on the biggest stage were dashed last week after he got into an altercation with Mike Brow