‘The toughest position’ – Eddie Jones reveals three contenders to replace Owen Farrell

Commenting on his three picks, the England head coach commented: “They are all possibly going to have the opportunity to step up to the plate.

“It is the toughest position in world rugby. You have so much pressure, so little time and space, a lot of decisions to make so it’s a fantastic opportunity for one of the young guys to step up.”

Jones added: “We are really keen to bring some younger guys through. It is the right time for us in terms of our World Cup planning.”

Jones has come under fire for consistently ignoring Simmonds, who captained Exeter to a Premiership and European Cup double last season. Name-checking him, his time may finally come this summer.

Like his older brother Sam, Simmonds has come through the Chiefs academy system at Ivybridge Community College - and he's previously represented England at age group level, including the Under-20s in the Six Nations Championship.

DID YOU KNOW? Simmonds was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to rugby union football

Smith's rapid rise shows no signs of slowing down – it took barely a year for him to go from captaining Brighton College in an unbeaten season to involvement in the senior England squad.

The Harlequins star, who balances flair with good game management, looks like the obvious choice to be Eddie Jones next number 10 after making his debut in the summer.

DID YOU KNOW? Smith became the second-youngest Premiership debutant in history, behind George Ford, when making his Harlequins bow against London Irish aged 18 years and 200 days in September 2017

With his dad Mike and uncle Tana playing at international level, it was inevitable that Jacob Umaga would take up rugby and do well in his own right.

.In June 2016, Jacob moved to the Wasps Academy and two months later scored a thrilling long-range try for England U18 against France in Cape Town. His U20 debut was in the 59-17 win over France at Exeter and he landed all his five place-kicks against Wales six days later along the way to England'ss 37-21 victory at Colwyn and he made four appearances in the World U20 Championship in Georgia in June 2017.

He captained sides at Kenilworth from U9-U16 and won representative honours with the England mixed U18 touch rugby team. In 2020 he received his first senior call-up for the Guinness Six Nations.

DID YOU KNOW? He is related to the late great All Blacks powerhouse Jerry Collins (cousin-once-removed)