JONES BACKING HARTLEY TO LEAD AT WORLD CUP

EDDIE JONES has given his strongest indication yet that Dylan Hartley could continue as England captain through to the World Cup in 2019, following his ‘outstanding’ leadership in the record win over Australia. The England coach had previously referred to the Northampton hooker as his ‘foundation’ skipper — suggesting his position would be reassessed, with a view to a ‘tournament captain’ being installed to lead the team for two years prior to the global showpiece in Japan. However, in the aftermath of England’s 30-6 thrashing of the Wallabies at Twickenham on Saturday, Jones appeared to endorse Hartley’s chances of becoming that tournament captain. ‘Dylan’s contribution was outstanding,’ said the Australian about a man who has started all 23 matches under the current regime — and who won four turnovers in the second fixture of the autumn campaign; more than any other player on the field. ‘His captaincy was first class. He’s moving from being a good captain to being an even better captain. ‘He’s been around a bit. He has seen the bottom of the trough and he is now surfing at the very top of the crest. ‘He appreciates relationships, he appreciates the opportunity of what he’s doing at the moment and he’s only going to grow as captain.’ On a day when the hosts benefited from a series of close calls by Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe, Jones added: ‘Dylan manages the referee well and manages the team well. ‘He’s got a good demeanour about him with the referee. It’s so important for the captain to have a good relationship with the referee. ‘It’s difficult refereeing the game. We play a game that has a contest in every component, so your ability to communicate effectively with the referee is so important and he does that brilliantly.’ Having identified Hartley’s capacity to improve further as a Test captain, Jones was asked to assess the leadership shown by Owen Farrell — who took over the role when the skipper departed just before the hour. Sir Clive Woodward is among those who have called for the Saracens playmaker to be given the job full-time, but the head coach said: ‘He’s a youngster in terms of captaincy. The more experience he gets, the better he’ll be.’