Dylan out to enjoy every moment after injury woe

PROBABLE ENGLAND LINE-UP Elliot Daly; Jack Nowell, left, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Alec Hepburn, Dylan Hartley, Kyle Sinckler, George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Brad Shields, Tom Curry, Zach Mercer. Replacements: Jamie George, Ben Moon, Harry Williams, Mark Wilson, Danny Care, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi, Charlie Ewels.

Algarve, but it neatly captured Hartley’s disposition yesterday.

There were golf tales from the squad’s pitch-and-putt outing – winner Chris Ashton, comedy act Harry Williams – and insights into his room share with Owen Farrell with whom he will share the captaincy this November.

“In terms of the co-captain’s role, it has been in place for the last three years anyway. It has just got an official title now,” said Hartley.

“I have always roomed with Owen and he has always been a sounding board for me and vice versa. Any ideas have always been discussed in our room at Pennyhill Park.

“He’s so messy. I’ve seen his house and his house is clean so I think he just goes a bit crazy in camp.

“It’s not like we have two fishfinger beds next to each other. He’s in one room, I’m in the other and we’ve got a little lounge area.

“He sings in the shower and makes the coffee. He watches football on the TV. I don’t.” Whether the good cheer will survive the experience of leading an England pack shorn of a boatload of familiar faces by injury, suspension and retirement against a Springbok eight strengthened from the June series by the return of Eben Etzebeth and Malcolm Marx is open to debate.

“It’s a good challenge that we will embrace,” said Hartley. “We obviously don’t have caps from players like Mako Vunipola and Joe Marler but the guys that have been picked have been picked for a reason. They are obviously doing something right and we can take confidence from that.

“I’m just going to say to someone like Ben Moon, ‘Do what you do for Exeter but 100 times better’. Test rugby is a different animal but top-flight European rugby, which those guys have been playing, is a pretty good level.”

South Africa won the summer series 2-1 and with uncertainty surrounding England’s readiness for an autumn series that will