There has been a lot of media spotlight on Dylan Hartley in the last month, and most (if not all) famous rugby faces agree that Dylan really shouldn't be anywhere near the England set-up.
It's become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Dylan Hartley is not good enough for international duty, let alone being the England captain. I think his time is more than over, and this is why;
1 | Northampton Saints' & Hartley's Dreadful Form
His club side, the Northampton Saints, have been on a downward decline over the past four years and find themselves in 10th place in the Aviva Premiership. They had their worst losing run since the 2004 season (losing 7 games on the bounce) and barely managed to beat Gloucester at Franklins Gardens in the last round - with a little assistance from a terribly biased ref in the form of Ian Tempest.
Dylan, currently captain of the poor-performing Saints, has not been playing well on a club level at all this season. His captaining ability has certainly been on show a lot, and he doesn't seem to add any motivation to Northampton in their play at all. Eddie Jones surely cannot keep Hartley in the England side purely for his apparent 'captaining skills' (which are barely average anyway) and risk a similar decline to what Northampton are going through.
2 | JAMIE GEORGE!!!
The best England hooker as we speak, period.
This guy is a beast. And I've been calling his inclusion in the England Starting XV for a couple of years now, and never has it been more important. Saracens' lineout is the best in the Aviva Premiership and there's a reason for that (Jamie George); as soon as Christopher Tolofua (or whoever) comes on in place of George Saracens' play significantly declines and as a result become far less threatening. This can also be applied to England, who will be far less threatening with a weak line-out game Hartley on the field.
George was starting for the Lions for god's sake, and he's probably the best hooker in all of the Six Nations! If you ask who you think will be starting hooker in 2 year's time there's absolutely no doubt you'd say, George. We also have to look ahead to the 2019 World Cup and who we'll want playing for us then!
3 | There ARE alternatives
I never liked how much stick Chris Robshaw got for the showing in the 2015 World Cup, and I think most of it was unfair. He's improved his game massively since then and never gets the plaudits that he deserves when he's on the field. The guy is an absolute machine, and he's my main candidate for captain.
Maro Itoje, still young admittedly, plays with ounces of enthusiasm whenever he's on the pitch and if he could translate that into Captaincy we're all set. On his day he's the best second-row on the planet and I'd much rather have an average captain who plays outstandingly than an average captain that's seriously bellow par.
Mike Brown and George Ford also are good shouts!
Give me your thoughts below!