Andy Gomarsall Axed England scrum-half

Some people might think that this weekend's RBS Six Nations match between England and Ireland is a 'nothing game', but let me assure you it is massive.

After last week's defeat by Scotland, the guys have to put in a big performance at Twickenham to lift spirits and I'm positive every player is looking forward to doing that.

If I were a coach I'd be looking at myself wondering why a player like Jonny Wilkinson isn't functioning in this England side

We need to win, obviously, but we need a good display too and I know that with our potential, power and skill we can beat them.

In fact, I expect England's performance to be 100 times better than against Scotland.

At the heart of that will be Danny Cipriani. He's experienced the highs and lows of rugby union in just a week - dropped last week to being the key man in the side this - but he can deliver on Saturday.

He's delivered on big stages for London Wasps in the past, is a massive talent, and I'm sure the backline are excited about playing with him too.

One thing he must do, though, is deal with the emotion of the occasion after his drop last week.

I was shocked by it. I'm sure (coach) Brian Ashton wanted to put a marker down for standards in the group but I thought it was pretty harsh.

It looked like Danny had been out drinking all night or whatever but that wasn't the case at all - that's just not Danny.

Still, I'm sure the situation is closed now and everyone can move on. He's got a great opportunity to show what he's all about and I'm very interested to see how he gets on.

Of course, he has got his chance because of Jonny Wilkinson being dropped - and I think Jonny has been massively harshly dealt with.

Jonny is the world record points scorer, a class act, and he hasn't become a bad player overnight.

In terms of his skill level, his application, his brain - everything - Jonny is one of the best players in the world and that's why it's frustrating for everyone, including him, that he hasn't been able to play like we know he can.

If I were a coach I'd be looking at myself wondering why a player like that isn't functioning.

There is a reason why Jonny isn't playing well in this team. Sometimes things are out of your control as a player and possibly it's come to that, which is sad.

606: DEBATE As far as Wilkinson is concerned, the general feeling of scapegoat is widely held. To drop just Jonny is to apportion blame upon him and, seemingly, him alone sausage1966 (U4392044)

It revolves around coaching and it revolves around the style of play, factors like the quality of ball you get and the tactics of the team. It happened during the Rugby World Cup and we were kind of able to sort it out. But it just hasn't happened again for England in this Six Nations and it's so frustrating.

I'm sure everyone will have an opinion on Jonny's form, but I just see it as a failing that we've got a player who has scored more points in world rugby than anyone else and yet he gets dropped.

Why is that? Why isn't he playing to the best of his ability? We've seen it time and time again in his career to date, so why not now?

All I would say is that Jonny has absolutely nothing to prove. My message to him - or any player in a similar situation - is to retain your self-belief because Jonny is a class act and always will be.

One thing is for sure, and that's that Jonny was not the reason we lost to Scotland. It was a flat performance all round and you couldn't single out anyone or one particular area where it went wrong.

When you represent your country there are things that should happen on a rugby pitch that are a given and, unfortunately, that just didn't happen.

That has to be addressed against Ireland. The guys absolutely must kick on and there has to be a hell of an improvement or I'm sure that the match could be some players' last game for their country.

That's why, like I say, it's a massive game - for the fans, the players and the coaching staff.

Andy Gomarsall was talking to BBC Sport's Simon Austin.