Friday 20 January 2017 13:46, UK
Eddie Jones has warned Dylan Hartley he will have to continue to progress as a player to keep his role as England captain with Owen Farrell waiting in the wings to take over.
Hartley captained England to Grand Slam glory last year but his preparations for the 2017 Six Nations have been hampered by a six-week ban for striking Leinster's Sean O'Brien.
The Northampton hooker will head into the clash with France on February 4 without the benefit of a game since early December, and he is one of a number of players Jones will monitor closely at their training camp in Portugal next week.
Hartley came through a 'simulated match trial' fitness test on Wednesday and was included in a 34-man squad announced by Jones on Friday, although he also included a further pair of hookers in Jamie George and Tommy Taylor and did not officially name a captain.
"The captaincy, like the jersey, is not a permanent position," Jones said. "At the moment, if Dylan wasn't there, Owen would be captain.
"He's absolutely committed to the team, he does everything that's right by the team, he's got a good head on him and him and Dylan are very much a partnership. If Dylan isn't right it's not such a big issue for Owen to take over.
"Here you have to add to the jersey. All Dylan has to do is be concerned with adding to the position of England captain. All he has to do is play well and captain well. If he does that he will continue to be England captain."
As for Hartley's current fitness, Jones added: "Dylan is moving in the right direction. He's progressed from probably in the autumn when we'd have given him a five out of 10 in terms of being ready to play. Now he's more like a seven out of 10.
"Given that he has a good couple of days of training in our camp in Portugal, I'd anticipate him being in the reckoning for the first Test team. I'll have a look at him on Monday and Tuesday."
