Eddie Jones should not rush to name his England captain before Six Nations starts

It is an exciting and important day for England rugby and as Eddie Jones prepares to announce his first squad, I offer one piece of advice.

Do not get derailed by the perceived necessity of naming an England captain. Just announce your squad and leave the captaincy well alone for the moment.

Captaincy in rugby is not a vital issue. It is not remotely as important as it is in cricket. The priority is to identify your best players and how they and England are going to play.

England head coach Eddie Jones takes the stage at the Rugby Writers' Dinner on Monday night

England cricket captain Alastair Cook (right) marshals his troops in a sport where captaincy is vital

I’m sure Eddie had begun building relationships with key players but they have had no time in camp together. He should now take his time to size everyone up.

Keep it simple and pick your best team on merit. Do that and the great players who command a place every week for their brilliance on the field will become apparent. And from that core group you will get your captain.

Next month, pick your team to play Scotland and then announce your captain. Then repeat the process before the following match against Italy.

It might be the same captain, it might not. Eddie should relish the opportunity of keeping players on their toes.

In time, a worthy captain will emerge and it might surprise us all who that is.

Great teams have leaders all over the pitch, not just wearing the armband. For now, England have a better chance of reaching that point by taking the captaincy off the table.

The name of Dylan Hartley has been widely discussed as the prime candidate. At his best Hartley is a very good international hooker and a particularly solid line-out thrower. And as a feisty former hooker himself, Eddie would probably feel an affinity with Hartley.

Dylan Hartley playing for England in last year's Six Nations (left) and in a recent game for Northampton (right)

The England coach will not be scared off by Hartley’s disciplinary record. He will make up his own mind on that. But there is no rush. Hartley is chronically short of rugby over the last seven months and a long way short of being an automatic starter for England, with Jamie George and Tom Youngs going well.

He is not even a starter at Northampton at present.

Although Chris Robshaw might well lead England again one day, he needs some time out of the firing line. It’s been heartening to see Robshaw’s strong performances at blindside flanker for Harlequins since the World Cup. He is a proud and hungry player and he is a certainty for the squad and could easily start against Scotland, either at blindside or No 8, but not as captain.

Chris Robshaw (holding ball) has been in fine form for Harlequins playing on the blind side of the scrum

Elsewhere, Eddie’s early selections will offer us clues. It is time for England, and the rest of the Six Nations, to raise their standards because the gulf between North and South has widened alarmingly.

It is time for a reality check and we need a champion team to emerge to take the rest kicking and screaming into understanding what is required to beat all four Southern Hemisphere teams.

England must start developing a team and a game that can beat Argentina in Buenos Aires, South Africa in Johannesburg, Australia in Sydney and New Zealand in Auckland. That will always be the yardstick.

England have the players and the big hope is that Eddie will identify them, back the guys all the way and empower them to play like the world-beaters they could be.

And that process must start now. As Eddie knows full well, selection is the No 1 skill of the head coach.