Dylan Hartley has backed Owen Farrell to continue as England skipper despite the emergence of superstar fly-half Marcus Smith.
The 35-year-old, who won an incredible 97 England caps over a decade between 2008 and 2018, was a popular member of the Prime Video punditry in 2020 and will return to our screens again next month
Hartley doesn’t believe the emergence of the Quins playmaker will lead. to Farrell being stripped of the captaincy and left out of the team.
“I don’t think we should doom and scaremonger around Owen’s position,” said Hartley.
“He’s played 10 and 12 and has shown he has the ability to play front foot, attacking rugby. For me England look at their best with two distributors.”
“Owen sets an unbelievable example,” added Hartley.
“He is your consummate professional in terms of how diligent he is, his training, his preparation. He adds so much on and off the field.
“Everyone has a life-span, but Owen is not at the end of his. I can’t see him not playing. At the moment I don’t see any way he’s not (captain for the World Cup).”
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Prime members can watch the Autumn Nations Series live from 30th October with the Prime Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablets, games consoles, on Virgin’s V6 TV Box, the Talk Talk TV set top box, Apple TV, Chromecast, BT TV or online.
For a list of all compatible devices visit amazon.co.uk/watchanywhere.
HARTLEY’S ENGLAND XV FOR AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
- 14. Anthony Watson (Bath, 55 caps)
- 11. Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons, 1 cap)
CENTRES:
- 13. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
- 12. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 97 caps)
