Danny Cipriani must oust George Ford and Owen Farrell to reignite his England career.
Eddie Jones omitted Cipriani from England's training camp squad and the Elite Player Squad (EPS) on Friday, then challenged the Wasps playmaker to raise his performance levels.
Cipriani won the last of his 14 England caps in August 2015 and has not featured at all under head coach Jones.
Jones has admitted he does not consider the 28-year-old as a back-up squad option, after promoting Saracens' 23-year-old Alex Lozowski into his 45-man EPS.
"I had a number of difficult conversations yesterday," said Jones of informing a host of players they had been overlooked for selection. "Danny knows what he's got to do.
"Look he's a talented player but I said it quite clearly to him. At the moment he's not one or two in England in terms of stand-offs.
"We see George [Ford] and Owen [Farrell] together as one and two. They are 23 and 24 years old, they are the heart of the England side.
"They can organise the team, they are tactically smart.
"So for Cipriani to get into the squad he's got to be able to show he can be number one."
Bath star Ford and Saracens' Farrell have thrived in tandem at 10 and 12 under taskmaster boss Jones, and the Australian boss admitted the pair remain at the forefront of his revised England approach.
Cipriani has been in fine form for Wasps after rejoining his boyhood club from Sale Sharks in the summer.
The richly-talented fly-half has endured a host of injury setbacks and off-field issues in his career, but has been determined to display a calmer temperament to impress England boss Jones.
Jones insisted he does not view Cipriani as back-up material, challenging the high-profile star to prove he deserves to start at fly-half in order to force his way back into England's squad.
"I don't see him as a player who comes in the squad as a number three or four player," said Jones. "To me he's not that sort of player, he likes to be the main man. And when he plays well enough to be number one he'll be in the squad."