Eddie Jones has said that Dylan Hartley would continue to captain England if he was fit enough to be selected.
Northampton hooker Hartley is serving a six-week ban for catching Leinster’s Sean O’Brien with a swinging arm in a Champions Cup match in December.
Jones, 56, said last month that the 30-year-old had “let his country down” with the third red card of his career.
But the Australian said on Tuesday that Hartley was “doing everything right” to be England captain for the forthcoming Six Nations.
Hartley’s dismissal in Northampton’s 37-10 home defeat by Leinster had jeopardised his involvement in England’s Six Nations campaign, with their opening fixture against France at Twickenham on 4 February.
However, he is eligible to play again from 23 January.
Jones added: “A prerequisite to get into the England side is to be very fit and not playing games means he needs to undergo an unbelievably stringent fitness programme over the next five or six weeks. He is doing that and is in the best position to continue as captain.
“If Dylan is right to play, he will be captain.
“Everyone makes mistakes. In the last 12 months, he has made one mistake and done a hell of a lot of good things so his batting average is pretty high. If that falls, then we need to look at things.
“We have had a number of chats, not any longer than five minutes, but plenty of information has been exchanged. He understands where he is at and what he needs to do. He will do it.”
Hartley attended England training camp in Brighton
Eddie Jones has announced a revised 45-man elite player squad (EPS) and named the 33 players who will attend a two-day training camp in Brighton as England begin their preparation for the RBS 6 Nations.
The 33 players assembled in Brighton from 2-3 January ahead of the opening game of the tournament against France at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 4 February (4.50pm).
Loose-head prop Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), second-row Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), back-row forward Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers) and fly-half Alex Lozowski (Saracens), who are all uncapped, are included in the Brighton squad.
James Haskell (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) and Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) who have all recently returned from injury. Matt Mullan (Wasps) also returns to the England set-up having not featured in the autumn.
The final squad for the RBS 6 Nations will be announced on Friday 20 January.
“This short two-day camp in Brighton allows us to do some of the organisational work we need to do for the Six Nations,” said England head coach Jones.
“We have France first-up who are one of the most improved sides in Europe. They should have beaten Australia and could have beaten the All Blacks in November, so they’ll come into the Six Nations with a lot of confidence.
“We’ve got to make sure that we use this training camp to get an understanding of how we’re going to beat France. We want to see a good attitude from the players and, as always, we’re looking for players who are desperate to play for England.”
England sealed a first Grand Slam since 2003 in the 2016 RBS 6 Nations and Jones added: “The thing the struck me about last year’s Six Nations is that sides were scared to lose and we want to make sure in this Six Nations, right from the word go, that we’re daring and we have the courage to play our game.”
33 players at Brighton training camp from 2-3 January:
Forwards
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Jamie George (Saracens), Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints) *injury replacement for Sam Jones (Wasps), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Tommy Taylor (Wasps), Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints).
Backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), *Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers) Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Marland Yarde (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
* Manu Tuilagi was injured playing for Leicester and his place at the camp was taken by Bath’s Semesa Rokoduguni.
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