Dylan Hartley named new England captain

Jones will speak to his senior players at the squad’s Surrey training base on Monday before officially announcing who will be at the helm for England’s rebuilding phase following a disastrous World Cup.

Dylan Hartley has been appointed the new England rugby union captain by coach Eddie Jones.

Hartley’s indiscretions in recent years have garnered him an unwanted reputation, with the 29-year-old’s record comprising of over a year’s worth of suspensions.

Hartley’s string of disciplinary sanctions include a 26-week ban for eye-gouging in 2007 and an 11-week suspension after he was sent off in the 2013 Premiership final for abusing a match official, an incident that saw him omitted from the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.

The fiery Hartley, who replaced Chris Robshaw as captain, has served a total of 54 weeks in bans for a litany of offences, including eye-gouging, head-butting and punching.

However, his leadership and set-piece expertise were sorely missed during last autumn’s global showpiece on home soil and he will skipper England during the Six Nations, starting with the February 6 clash with Scotland. “We can look back all we want but this is about looking forward and that’s what we’ll do”, he said.

It is essential for the success of this team that we quickly develop and establish a strong leadership group.

In truth, Hartley’s appointment probably tells us more about the paucity of available and realistic alternatives- Ben Youngs and James Haskell – than Jones’ preference for rehabilitating a serial offender through responsibility, but it carries as much risk as the ill-fated appointment of Kevin Pietersen as England cricket captain.

“Dylan is a good man and a good player”.

66 – the number of caps Hartley has accumulated during his seven years as an England 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.

“I had a meeting with the team and I said Chris has done a fantastic job for England over the last four years, but we’ve chose to take a new direction”.

Hartley insists that the “past is the past” in relation to his lengthy list of previous misdemeanours. “Jim Mallinder, the coaches and the team have got behind me”. It doesn’t matter what I think. “It’s been a bit of a mystery why he’s not had opportunities before but he has put his hand up and shown what he can do”.

“I’ve got a lot to thank Northampton for”, the hooker said. “I’m really excited about this tournament and getting stuck in”.