Why more than one skipper is a recipe for chaos
Well done eddie for mixing things up and giving us plenty of new england starters to enjoy tomorrow. It should be great fun and very instructive — but I’m intrigued by the matchday dynamic of who captains the side.
Dylan hartley, captain throughout eddie’s reign, is stepping down to the bench for the day and two co-captains have been named — Chris Robshaw, who led the side for four years under Stuart lancaster, and George Ford, who is one of the players eddie regularly lists as a co-captain.
It sounds like it could be a recipe for chaos.
how does it work? Who goes to the tunnel for the coin toss with the referee? Who does the pre-match talk in the changing room and who leads the teams out?
Dylan hartley could, in theory, come on as a replacement as early as the first minute if Jamie George turns an ankle or takes a knock to the head which would bring a premature end to the experiment.
Would it be better for hartley to effectively take the day off from captain’s responsibilities and just play as the replacement hooker or is he still the england captain?
It’s complicated but I believe Robshaw should do the coin toss. the referee needs to know who he is communicating with after the anthems finish and the action starts. If the designated skipper is Robshaw he must therefore lead the 23-man squad on to the field at twickenham. he should obviously also call the shots when hartley is not on the pitch.
But if hartley does come on, eddie has confirmed he will take over the captaincy. that is the right call. he is the leader of the group and has done a brilliant job over the last two years. Can you envisage legends of the game such as Richie mcCaw or martin Johnson coming on off the bench and not skippering the team? this is not sustainable going forward. It’s one thing doing it in a friendly but not in the Six nations or a World Cup. It won’t work.
to be honest, if it has been decided that Jamie George needs and deserves a start I would have given hartley — like Owen Farrell — the day off and brought another hooker in as a replacement.
and do you know what I would really like to see sooner rather than later? Dylan hartley start and finish a match. that’s what World Cup-winning skippers do. he is capable, playing very well and looks fit.
So the captaincy dynamic will provide much interest, as will the sight of ellis Genge, Sam Simmonds and indeed George actually starting.
there is a world of difference between starting a test match and coming on for a 15-minute cameo at the end. the responsibility and pressure is entirely different.
George has won 19 caps but every one has been as a replacement and for all his lions experience from touring new Zealand last summer he will be extremely nervous ahead of his first england start at twickenham.
those nerves can affect your play so he needs to feel that pressure in an england shirt from the start.