Bevan Rodd has been dropped from England’s squad for their crunch Six Nations opener with reigning champions Ireland.

The reigning Isle of Man Sportsman of the Year was named in Steve Borthwick’s initial 36-man training squad, but isn’t in the matchday 23 to face the Irish in Dublin on Saturday teatime.

The former Buchan pupil’s omission is a bit of a surprise given his sparkling form for club side Sale Sharks.

Prop forward Rodd has been virtually ever-present for the Cheshire outfit this campaign, scoring as the Sharks beat French outfit Toulon 33-7 in the European Champions Cup 10 days ago.

The victory at the Salford Community Stadium has teed-up a tasty looking tie with Toulouse in the last 16 of the competition in April, but Rodd’s impressive performance in both the scrum and with the ball in hand wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in Borthwick’s plans for this weekend.

Instead, the former Leicester Tigers coach has picked Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes to provide cover for the experienced Ellis Genge and Will Stuart in the front row.

The 24 year old will nevertheless be aiming to add to his seven caps when England continue their campaign with games against France (February 8), Scotland (February 22), Italy (March 9) and Wales (March 15).

Just last week Rodd said: ‘It’s an honour to be picked for England. It’s the highest level of rugby and it has to be one of the best things in my career thus far.

‘When you’re younger it’s all about your club, playing for Sale but then once you nail that down, the focus is on self-improvement and that has to be playing for England.’