Eddie Jones has rung the changes with his squad for the Six Nations, which was announced today. The England rugby coach has chosen seven uncapped players and jettisoned nine of Stuart Lancaster's ill-fated World Cup squad.
Among those omitted from the 33 named are Tom Youngs, Brad Barritt, Tom Wood and Geoff Parling. Nor is there any room for mercurial fly half Danny Cipriani.
Drafted in are back row Josh Beaumont, the son of England Grand Slam captain Bill, and lock Maro Itoje, widely tipped as a future captain.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Another eye-catching selection is that of up and coming Bath centre Ollie Devoto, who is picked as injury cover for Manu Tuilagi, who made his first appearance for 15 months at the weekend and will take his place in the squad when fit.
The other new faces are forwards Jack Clifford and Paul Hill and backs Elliot Daly and Sam Hill, who is an injury replacement for centre Henry Slade.
Alongside the new boys are Chris Ashton, Dylan Hartley and Marland Yarde, who have been recalled after missing out on selection for the World Cup.
The other players to be omitted are Ben Morgan, David Wilson, Rob Webber, Nick Easter and Richard Wigglesworth. When injuries and the defection of Sam Burgess to rugby league are taken into account, 13 of Stuart Lancaster's World Cup squad will be missing.
Jones said his main concern was winning against Scotland at Murrayfield next month, his first game in charge. But he also added that he had made his selections with a view to the future.
"The long-term strategy for England is to develop a side who can be the most dominant team in world rugby, so we have chosen a lot of new players on the growth we see in them," he said. "We see these players growing into England players of the future and developing into a side who can be the best in the world."
Of the new boys, 21-year-old Itoje is the "standout name", says the Daily Mail.
But "the biggest surprise of all" is the omission of hooker Youngs, says The Times. He was overlooked in favour of 22-year-old Luke Cowan-Dickie, who made his England debut in the World Cup warm-up internationals. He "gets another chance, despite missing most of the season with a hand injury as Jones looks towards players he believe he can help develop over the next four years".
Former England centre Jeremy Guscott was "surprised" by some of the omissions, he told the BBC, but added that Jones was "putting down a marker" for the type of player he wants.
Jones's next big decision will be to select a captain. Dylan Hartley and Joe Launchbury are the favourites, but there will be no decision for a fortnight.
England squad:
Props: Dan Cole, Paul Hill, Joe Marler, Matt Mullan, Henry Thomas (injury replacement for Kieran Brookes), Mako Vunipola
Hookers: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jamie George, Dylan Hartley
Locks: George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes
Back-rows: Josh Beaumont, Jack Clifford, Matt Kvesic (injury replacement for Dave Ewers), James Haskell, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola
Scrum-halves: Danny Care, Ben Youngs
Fly-halves: Owen Farrell, George Ford
Centres: Elliot Daly, Ollie Devoto (injury replacement for Manu Tuilagi), Sam Hill (injury replacement for Henry Slade), Jonathan Joseph
Wings and full-back: Chris Ashton, Mike Brown, Alex Goode, Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde
