Dylan Hartley set to be confirmed as England captain
Monday 25 January 2016 14:02, UK
Dylan Hartley is set to be named as England's captain for the Six Nations at a press conference this afternoon.
Eddie Jones, England's new head coach, will speak to his senior players this morning before confirming his captaincy decision to the rest of the 33-man squad gathered at Pennyhill Park, their Surrey training base.
An announcement is then due at 2pm, when Jones, who replaced Stuart Lancaster following England's disappointing World Cup campaign, is expected to reveal Northampton hooker Hartley will succeed Chris Robshaw as captain despite his poor disciplinary record that has resulted in over a year of inactivity.
Eye-gouging, biting, punching, elbowing, head-butting and swearing at a referee are the offences that have seen the 29-year-old amass 54 weeks of suspensions, forcing him to miss the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour and last year's World Cup.
Hartley, who was born in Rotorua in New Zealand, made his debut for England as a replacement against the Pacific Islanders in 2008 and has now made 66 Test appearances, in which he has scored five tries.
Jones revealed when announcing his first squad on January 13 that his skipper will initially be in place for the Six Nations only and also outlined what he will demand of the chosen player.
"Your captain's got to be your best player. He's got to be one of the first selected in the team, and then he's got to lead by example," he said.
"He needs to set standards for the team in terms of how we operate off the field, how we operate on the field, and he's got to be a conduit between the coaching staff and the players.
"Him and I are going to work so closely together. He is the coach of the team, he has got to be making that decision for the team on the field.
"We will probably be working more closely together than I will be with the other coaches."
England open their Six Nations campaign on Saturday February 6 when they play Scotland at Murrayfield.
You can watch Eddie Jones' press conference on Sky Sports News HQ from 3pm this afternoon.
