In the dining room at the Saracens training ground, George Kruis is standing over Michael Rhodes and belting out the national anthem. “God save our lekker Queen,” he goes, “long live our lekker Queen . . .”

Rhodes rolls his eyes. “Obviously, I catch a lot of flak from everyone about it,” he says. He then returns some abuse to Kruis, who has had his eyebrows shaved off. Oh, the badinage.

Kruis’s point, of course, is clear. Rhodes is front and centre of one of the many subplots to this intriguing new season. He will be wearing the No 6 shirt against Newcastle tomorrow and it will be the beginning of a campaign to wear the No 6 shirt for England — which is peculiar,