The jobs of coaches Brian Ashton and Eddie O'Sullivan will be on the line when England welcome Ireland to Twickenham in the final round of the Six Nations on Saturday.

The outcome of the game will decide which team finishes third in the championship and, unless there is a marked improvement in the performances of both sides, there are likely to be calls for each coach to be replaced.

Despite reaching the final of last year's World Cup, England have plainly struggled to develop any sort of style under Ashton, often appearing clueless in attack and too reliant on physical strength.

An impressive Six Nations victory over France in Paris, built squarely on forward power, has been undermined by losses to Wales and Scotland and a stuttering victory over Italy.

Furthermore, Ashton has yet to convince his critics with his selections. Persevering with the defensively vulnerable Iain Balshaw at full-back, instead of the in-form and proven Josh Lewsey, is just one of the choices that mark him out as a coach who puts loyalty before form.

His decision to drop Danny Cipriani for disciplinary reasons ahead of the Scotland match was extremely questionable. To then select him a week later in a different position smacks of muddled thinking and places huge pressure on the shoulders of the 20-year-old.

Cipriani is the only change following a dire performance in Edinburgh and the rising star replaces Jonny Wilkinson, England's talisman for the best part of a decade.

Ashton claims the rest of his team deserve the chance to put things right against Ireland.

But why? Surely if a team under-performs to such a degree then it is not the fault of just one player, in this case Wilkinson.

England's record under Ashton is respectable only because of their achievement in reaching the World Cup final.

Otherwise, his record of played 21, won 11 and lost 10 is hardly an improvement on that of his predecessor Andy Robinson.

Furthermore, England are clearly struggling to score tries. They have touched down just six times in their last seven games, two of which came from French errors rather than sustained attacking rugby.

In comparison France, who are building promisingly under new coach March Lievremont, have managed 11 tries in this Six Nations alone.

Former England scrum-half and World Cup winner Matt Dawson was under no illusion that Ashton's job was on the line following the dismal effort against Scotland last week.

Another poor showing on Saturday and the calls for Ashton to be replaced are likely to come also from his employers at the RFU.

O'Sullivan's position is no less precarious as he has failed to fully guide Ireland out of the malaise that saw them knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages.

After an unconvincing home win over Italy, Ireland showed some promise in their loss to France and continued it in their victory over Scotland.

But their defeat last week to Wales in Dublin saw the pressure return on O'Sullivan.

It was not just that they went down at home, more the manner in which they did so. There were few signs of the attacking side that many thought, less than a year ago, had an outside chance of winning the World Cup.

Their 43-13 victory over England in the corresponding fixture last year certainly boosted their standing going into the tournament.

Like with Ashton, O'Sullivan's critics believe he has stood by certain players for too long, although he has at least looked at number eight Jamie Heaslip and backs Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe in this tournament.

Ireland's chances of a victory at Twickenham have been affected by an injury to skipper and star centre Brian O'Driscoll, who faces a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

The good news for O'Sullivan is that full-back Geordan Murphy, arguably his most creative player, has passed a late fitness test on his Achilles and is set to start.

In O'Driscoll's absence, fly-half Ronan O'Gara skippers the side for the first time while Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble form a partnership in the centres.

Neither Ashton nor O'Sullivan can afford to lose on Saturday. The one that does could well pay the ultimate price.

England: 15-Iain Balshaw,14-Paul Sackey, 13-Jamie Noon, 12-Toby Flood, 11-Lesley Vainikolo, 10-Danny Cipriani, 9-Richard Wigglesworth; 8-Nick Easter, 7-Michael Lipman, 6-Tom Croft, 5-Steve Borthwick, 4-Simon Shaw, 3-Phil Vickery (capt), 2-Lee Mears, 1-Andrew Sheridan.

Replacements: 16-George Chuter, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Ben Kay, 19-James Haskell, 20-Paul Hodgson, 21-Mathew Tait, 22-Jonny Wilkinson.

Ireland: 15-Geordan Murphy*, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Andrew Trimble, 12-Shane Horgan, 11-Rob Kearney, 10-Ronan O'Gara (capt), 9-Eoin Reddan; 8-Jamie Heaslip, 7-David Wallace, 6-Denis Leamy, 5-Paul O'Connell, 4-Donncha O'Callaghan, 3-John Hayes, 2-Rory Best, 1-Marcus Horan.

Replacements: 16-Bernard Jackman, 17-Tony Buckley, 18-Mick O'Driscoll, 19-Simon Easterby, 20-Peter Stringer, 21-Paddy Wallace, 22-Luke Fitzgerald.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport