Hartley set to reclaim captaincy of England

DYLAN Hartley, the man Eddie Jones calls his ‘Captain Fantastic’, is poised to be reinstated as England captain following his return to match action for Northampton.

Jones wants Hartley back in charge following his recovery from a careerthreatening bout of concussion, and the man who replaced him, Owen Farrell, seems only to happy to oblige.

Farrell, who captained England in Hartley’s absence during the 2-1 summer tour series loss in South Africa, seemed unperturbed by the prospect of handing back the responsibility in an interview at the Premiership launch.

The Saracens fly-half was effusive in his praise of Hartley, who made his return to action for Northampton in their 41-15 pre-season win over Glasgow at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday after five months on the sidelines recuperating from concussion.

Farrell said: “Dylan is a brilliant captain. Dylan’s done an unbelievable job over the last three years, he’s got highest win percentage out of anyone, he does so much work, not just on the field but off the field as well.

“I’ve seen it first-hand, so I can only speak highly of him.”

The ringing endorsement

of Hartley's leadership ability suggests that Farrell had been primed by Jones, and has no reservations about handing the captaincy back to the 32year-old Northampton hooker.

Hartley took an extended absence from the game on medical advice after suffering from concussion in England’s Six Nations defeat by Ireland in March. It was his third major episode of concussion after being knocked out while captaining England to Grand Slam victory over France in 2016.

With no timeline set for his return, Hartley expressed fears that another head injury could force him into retirement. Jones, despite adopting a waitand-see policy over his captain’s health, said that when he did return Hartley would have to earn his place by playing well at club level.

However, Jones’ intention to bring Hartley back as soon as possible was flagged when he was selected in the England pre-season training squad earlier this month, and his arrival as a 60th minute replacement against Glasgow shows that his rehabilitation is complete.

There is every chance that Hartley – who has been announced as Northampton co-captain with Alex Waller – will now be available for their Gallagher Premiership opener against Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday.

That will put Hartley in a position, bar any further injuries in the next two months, to resume the England captaincy for the Autumn series.