Martin Johnson axed James Haskell, Nick Kennedy and Paul Sackey today but avoided the temptation to make sweeping changes for the Six Nations clash with France at Twickenham.

Team manager Johnson has opted not to take any specific action against the players who collected two yellow cards and conceded 18 penalties in Dublin during the 14-13 defeat so Phil Vickery and Danny Care, who went to the sinbin, are retained.

Sackey is replaced by Harlequins wing Ugo Monye, Wasps lock Simon Shaw comes in for the harshly treated Kennedy and Tom Croft is given Haskell's No6 jersey as England opt to bolster their line-out.

Shaw, 36, wins his 51st cap and adds more power to the second row but England lose ball-carrying ability with the omission of Haskell. Shaw has made only one appearance for England under Johnson — as a replacement against South Africa in November — due to the new manager's misguided faith in captain Steve Borthwick.

But to accommodate the Wasps lock, it is Kennedy, an accomplished line-out operator, who has gone when Borthwick was the obvious candidate for the chop.

Johnson also confirmed that, while Sackey has been carrying an injury, he has been dropped on form.

“He has got an injury but we wanted to make the change,” said Johnson. “We have good options there but we went with a specialist winger in Ugo.
“He has had injury problems but has come back and looked strong and sharp.”

The England boss also admitted Kennedy was unfortunate to lose his place in the team, saying: “Nick is a little bit unlucky. It is a balance with the players you want on the field.

“Simon Shaw and Nick are very different players. I said to Nick he has played well and not done anything wrong but it is about the balance.

“I said the same to James about Tom's inclusion. Tom gives us a line-out option and he has been playing well.”

England have had training sessions with top referees Wayne Barnes and Andrew Small this week in a bid to eradicate the penalties and yellow cards that have dogged their campaign.

On the retention of Care, who had been tipped for the axe for his indiscipline to send a message to the squad, Johnson said: “He is an important player for us and I don't think he will do that again.”

Meanwhile, Sebastien Chabal will return to France's back row for the match at Twickenham.

The Sale Sharks forward has been playing in the second row for most of the season for club and country, but he has been named at flanker.

Les Bleus head coach Marc Lievremont has beefed up his pack by bringing in Lionel Faure and Jerome Thion while Francois Trinh-Duc starts at fly-half in place of Benoit Baby, who injured his knee in the win over Wales a week and a half ago.

The line-ups

England: D Armitage (L Irish), U Monye (Quins), M Tindall (Glous), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale), T Flood (Leics), H Ellis (Leics), A Sheridan (Sale), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Sarries, cpt), S Shaw (Wasps), T Croft (Leics), J Worsley (Wasps),
N Easter (Quins). Reps: D Hartley (N'hampton), J White (Leics), J Haskell (Wasps), N Kennedy (L Irish), D Care (Quins), A Goode (Brive), M Tait (Sale).

France: M Medard, J Malzieu, M Bastareaud, Y Jauzion, C Heymans, F Trinh-Duc, M Parra, L Faure, D Szarzewski, S Marconnet, L Nallet,
J Thion, S Chabal, T Dusautoir, I Harinordoquy.
Replacements: T Domingo, B Kayser,
L Picamoles, J Bonnaire, S Tillous-Borde,
F Fritz, D Traille.