Brian Ashton hopes of a resurgent display against France at Twickenham suffered a massive blow this afternoon with the news that captain Phil Vickery, outhalf Jonny Wilkinson and centre Andy Farrell are all out of the game.

The coach's admission today that his side are now in the "second division of world rugby" is also an indication of the task he faces ahead of the World Cup, let alone his fourth Six Nations game.

England's bid for a first victory over Les Bleus since the 2003 World Cup semi-final in Sydney comes two weeks after a record 43-13 defeat to Ireland and has prompted Ashton to make 11 changes, including three positional switches.

England can still win the Six Nations title, but defeat against France would condemn a third successive championship campaign to also-ran status, and Ashton has pulled no punches ahead of a demanding Twickenham challenge.

He said: "We need to start climbing the ladder again.

"I said to the players yesterday that we are now in the second division of world rugby, and we need to get back into division one. We will be playing a division one side on Sunday.

"Rugby players are pretty resilient guys. We didn't have a great day at the office in Dublin, and there were a lot of reasons for that, but we have got to try to bounce back.

"The performance in Dublin wasn't acceptable at international level."

Only centre Mike Tindall, scrumhalf Harry Ellis, hooker George Chuter and flanker Joe Worsley remain in their starting positions from Croke Park.

Half of the pack demolished by a rampant Irish eight pay an inevitable price, with Perry Freshwater, Louis Deacon, Danny Grewcock and Magnus Lund all dropped.

Deacon and Lund are demoted to the bench, but prop Freshwater and lock Grewcock disappear completely, with Tim Payne, Julian White, Tom Palmer, Tom Rees and Nick Easter gaining starts up front.

The eye-catching selection though is number eight Martin Corry's move to lock, where he will forge a new secondrow partnership alongside Palmer.

Corry has made one previous appearance at lock for England - the 2003 World Cup pool game against Uruguay in Brisbane - while it is three years since he started a game at any level in that position.

Behind the scrum, 21-year-old Toby Flood gains a first Test start instead of his infinitely more celebrated Newcastle colleague Wilkinson, whose strained right hamstring means he is unavailable for the 31st out of 34 Tests since his drop-goal saw England crowned world champions.

And with Farrell still being treated for lower back pain, 35-year-old London Irish back Mike Catt returns in midfield.

Catt, also appointed skipper in the absence of Wasps star Vickery, wins a 68th cap, but it will be his first Six Nations start since 2001. He also becomes the oldest back to captain England.

Elsewhere, Josh Lewsey moves from wing to full-back instead of shoulder injury victim Olly Morgan, with Jason Robinson back on the left wing after shaking off a neck complaint that sidelined him in Dublin.

Harlequins prospect David Strettle, England's one shining light on a try-scoring Dublin debut, is deservedly retained, but swaps to the number 14 shirt.

Although he offered no direct comment on whether or not a fit Farrell would have retained his place, Ashton said: "He was the top tackler in Dublin with 17 tackles, and he made two errors.

"He has copped a lot of flak for that, but it would be nice to see all the players making 17 tackles and two mistakes."

England team: 15-Josh Lewsey; 14-David Strettle, 13-Mike Tindall, 12-Mike Catt, 11-Jason Robinson; 10-Toby Flood, 9-Harry Ellis; 8-Nick Easter, 7-Tom Rees, 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Tom Palmer, 4-Martin Corry, 3-Julian White, 2-George Chuter, 1-Tim Payne
   
Replacements: 16-Lee Mears, 17-Stuart Turner, 18-Louis Deacon, 19-Magnus Lund, 20-Shaun Perry, 21-Shane Geraghty, 22-Mathew Tait