Johnson issues warning to serial offenders

England players will be dropped unless they improve their discipline, team manager Martin Johnson said this week.

Johnson was exasperated at the weekend when Danny Care and Phil Vickery were both sin-binned during the 14-13 defeat in Ireland that left England in fourth place in the Six Nations.

"If their performances aren't good enough, and part of that is giving penalties away, then they won't get picked," Johnson told BBC 5 Live.

"The guys are aware of that and we'll keep hammering away at it because, ultimately, we're here to win games."

England have had 10 players yellow-carded in their last four matches and Johnson was clearly losing patience in Dublin, reacting furiously when replacement Care was sent from the field for a needless barge on Marcus Horan.

Johnson said Care would still be in contention for a place against France at Twickenham on March 15.