"Betrayed" - Owen Farrell's reaction to being stripped of captaincy says it all

Head coach Eddie Jones admitted Farrell was not pleased with the decision.

"Very unhappy [Farrell's response]," Jones added. "Owen's a bloke that expresses his feelings clearly.

"He wants to be captain and when I told him he wasn't captain he wasn't happy. He's had a long time out of the team and we feel the best for the team is that.

"He's got 97 caps for England and he's won everything apart from the World Cup. He's very important for us.

"Courtney Lawes has got a good sense of togetherness, he's calm, engaging with the players. He's the right fit for this tour."

The irony with Farrell is that he is arguably the most obvious candidate and fits the role as well as anyone, but he might be the toughest for the RFU to land due to his long-term deal with Ireland.

Roberson is one of the most revered coaches in the southern hemisphere. The 46-year-old is a serial winner and has all the tools to bring back the insatiable winning mentality which has been missing for Eddie Jones' men of late.

Baxter is rapidly approaching the 12th anniversary of his time in charge at Exeter Chiefs and it may be difficult to prize him away from that. But there is no doubt about his credentials; his time in charge at the Chiefs has seen the club change beyond recognition. 

He conquered the world with South Africa in 2019 and the only logical next step after such a feat would be to take the grandest and most high-profile job in world rugby. It is not a far-fetched notion, either; reports in the South African press last year suggested that Erasmus had held talks with the RFU about succeeding Jones, which were subsequently denied. He'd also been recently linked with Harlequins.