Hartley still holding on

EDDIE JONES is set to give Dylan Hartley a stay of execution after hinting at his next selection in front of 12,000 people.

England staged a public training session at Twickenham in front of hoardes of spectators – including Prince Harry – as Jones put his squad through their paces for an hour.

Italy, who England play a week tomorrow, shipped 63 points against Ireland last Saturday but Jones will resist the temptation to blood too many new faces and risk losing momentum in the Six Nations.

That means skipper Hartley, under pressure from Jamie George after being substituted early in the games against France and Wales, is expected to stay as a starter. Assistant coach Steve Borthwick said: “If you look at the way that the England scrum has gone in the first part of the Six Nations, Dylan has been a central factor in driving that. That’s not just on a match day, that’s every single day and driving that standard.”

Jones’s team in training showed four changes from the XV that started against Wales last Saturday, with Ben Te’o, James Haskell, Jonny May and Ellis Genge all involved.

There were also positional switches from Cardiff, with Elliot Daly running at outsidecentre and Owen Farrell switched to fly-half. George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Jack Clifford and Joe Marler look likely to be among the substitutes as England bid for a 17th win on the trot.

Genge’s participation at loosehead may depend on how Mako Vunipola reacts after his first start since December 18 for Saracens against Gloucester last night.

Haskell has not started a Test since the second international against Australia in June after foot surgery and has been one of Jones’ ‘finishers’ off the bench in the opening two games.

But he looks likely to run on at openside from the off after playing 16 minutes against France and 32 against Wales.