Inspirational Hartley was true leader for England

SAME again for Rome. Just because England have a new coach does not mean they have to abandon common sense, adopt radical measures and experiment wildly.

Eddie Jones said he was picking a team to beat Scotland and that is just what he delivered.

England have opened their Six Nations campaign with a solid victory on the road at Murrayfield.

Now they need to take that momentum to Rome this weekend with another professional j ob against an Italy side, who — apart from that moment of madness form Sergio Parisse at the end — went very well against France in Paris and could have won.

This is not t he t i me f or experimentation. No England player did anything at Murrayfield to warrant being dropped.

With that game under their belts and another good week’s training, they should be more than good enough to deal with anything Italy throw at them.

It takes five matches for a new coach in any sport to impose his style of play and approach, so it will almost certainly be the summer tour to Australia before we get to see the real direction England will take under Jones.

In the meantime, there is a Six Nations tournament to win, perhaps even with a Grand Slam, last achieved by England in 2003.

Would this team challenge New Zealand or Australia at present? No. Can they mount a strong Six Nations campaign? Yes.

England were far from perfect at Murrayfield. A penalty count of 12 is way too high. Some were just silly. This has plagued England for a long time and needs rectifying. The way they went off the boil in the second quarter was also a concern.

But there were plenty of positives. Billy Vunipola is beginning to grow as an international player, with his close-quarter power now being used to best effect, and the use of the English bench seemed far more reactive and thought through than the pre-planned switches under previous coach Stuart Lancaster.

Mako Vunipola and Courtney Lawes made an excellent impact when they came on and the extra speed of Jack Clifford in the last 10 minutes was a good call.

I also liked the fact that England did not use three of their bench. Jamie George came on right at the death for Dylan Hartley.

Only use the bench when the game situation demands it.

The George Ford/Owen Farrell axis at 10 and 12 had its moments and they will benefit from another 80 minutes playing in tandem, as will Danny Care at scrum- half getting used to the extra options at his disposal.

Farrell was at his combative best, but he must remain aware that his principle role is that of playmaker. At times, he can get lost in the physicality of the occasion.

It’s when he plays heads-up rugby that England benefit most. The slick move that led to Jack Nowell’s try was a prime example

The biggest plus was Hartley. I backed his appointment as captain from the off, so it was no surprise to me that he played and led the side well at Murrayfield.

For me, he was always the obvious choice post-World Cup because of what he would bring to the team when fully fit and match hardened.

When Hartley functions well, the England line- out and scrum is secure and that is the starting point for any Test team. Such set-piece domination is certainly the priority for Jones’ England.

HARTLEY did rather more than that, though. I was i mpressed wi t h hi s demeanour around the team and there were a couple of moments, as England were lined up waiting for the anthems to start, when he moved down the line offering encouragement.

On the pitch, he was decisive and generally calm. There was a moment when England led 12-6 when he was faced with the classic ‘ go-for-goal or go-for-the-corner’ call when his team were awarded the penalty.

He immediately pointed to touch and, as it happened, England didn’t press home the advantage. But his decisiveness was notable. Farrell had just missed two kicks at goal and this was not a given three points. He took the pressure off his centre, stuck in it in the corner and took responsibility. I liked that.

There was a good deal of media attention on Hartley last week and he seemed edgy at times, coming out with the line that a lot of people were willing him to fail.

Wrong. A lot of people are willing him to succeed. Myself for one and I notice Sir Ian McGeechan has backed his appointment from the moment it was mooted. And of course the most important man of all in all this — Eddie Jones — clearly backs him to the hilt.

Hartley has to ignore any background noise. Winning in Rome on Sunday is all that matters.