Hartley's England captaincy hopes dwindle as he’s left on bench

Duncan Bech 11:07 09/01/2016
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  • Northampton's in-form hooker Mike Haywood is being preferred to Dylan Hartley.

    Dylan Hartley continues to lose ground in his quest to be named England hooker and captain for the Six Nations after being confined to the bench for Northampton’s Premiership clash with Leicester.

    For a second weekend in a row, Mike Haywood’s good form has kept him in the No2 jersey with Saints picking their strongest available team for a crunch derby.

    Adding to Hartley’s disappointment at featuring among the replacements is that England head coach Eddie Jones will be watching from the Welford Road stands, just four days before announcing his first England squad.

    Hartley is understood to have been identified by Jones as Chris Robshaw’s successor as Red Rose captain, but given his second choice status at Northampton he is running out of opportunities to advance his claim.

    While England’s most capped available forward watches from the bench at Welford Road, his closest rival and the starting hooker throughout last autumn’s World Cup, Tom Youngs, will be leading Leicester.

    England flanker Tom Wood features for Northampton for the first time since damaging his shoulder against Gloucester on November 27, joining Hartley on the bench.

    Also of interest to Jones will be the performance of Leicester prop Dan Cole, who alongside Youngs is restored to the front row following last Saturday’s loss to Saracens.

    Saints’ Kieran Brookes was shaping up to be England’s tighthead for the Six Nations until he was struck down by a knee injury, so Cole is back and in pole position.

    “Dan has been good for us this season. His work around the field is phenomenal. There’s a lot more to Cole than just set-piece,” Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill said.

    Meanwhile, Saints have named a powerful centre partnership for the game with George North pairing up with Luther Burrell.

    North has been moved inside from his usual position on the left wing and will start at 13.

    Jamie Elliott comes in on the right wing with George Pisi dropping out as a result of North moving into the centres, while club captain Lee Dickson replaces the hamstrung Kahn Fotuali’i at scrum half.

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