England bad-boy Dylan Hartley thought his test rugby career was over

Hartley, 29, is believed to be new head coach Eddie Jones’ first choice as captain.

And Ritchie does not see Hartley’s poor disciplinary record as being an issue and will leave Jones to make pick the right man for the job.

“We had a good chat and I said to him: “look, going forward, the first thing you have got to do is get in the team and to get in the team you have got to be the best number six in England”.

“For me missing out on the World Cup, I thought I’d played my last game for England”, Hartley told BBC Sport on Thursday. This is a call for Eddie and the coaching team. “It’s a facet that’s important for the head coach to do”. “Then for the summer tour we’ll have a full-blown coaching staff”.

Ashton, who was not part of England’s disastrous World Cup, may appeal the decision but he looks set to miss the entire championship.

Hartley, who has won 66 caps for England, insisted in June that he had no intention of retiring from global rugby despite receiving what was his fifth suspension in three years.

“Sam is certainly on the radar”.

Hartley is eager to engage with Jones, the Australian who has been charged with reviving the English team after their World Cup disaster.

“If someone is at a university then we need to make sure something like that doesn’t artificially inhibit us selecting talented people”.

Ashton has not played for England for 18 months, having fallen out of favour under Lancaster, and his exile is set to go on for a while longer, with Saracens unsure whether they will appeal the ban.

Hartley’s other indiscretions include a 26-week ban for “making illegal contact with the eye area” of Wasps forwards Jonny O’Connor and James Haskell, which ruled him out of the 2007 World Cup and an eight-week ban during the 2012 Six Nations for biting the finger of former Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris.

“Eddie is on a four-year arrangement and it is that usual balance between wanting to win the first game while not expecting a situation to be bedded in first time around in a matter of a few weeks with a new coaching team”, Ritchie said.