Jamie George rips up the worst cliches about front-row forwards. There was a time when props and hookers were meant to be pug-faced knuckle-draggers who only smiled when remembering the moment they crushed an opponent’s testicles or grunted at an apocryphal story of how they drank a pint of aftershave. Of course the truth about the beefy men of rugby has been different for decades.

George grins when I say some of the most illuminating rugby interviews I have done have been with Sean Fitzpatrick and Keith Wood. They made me think the hooker may just be the most intelligent man on the rugby field. “I’d agree with you there,” George says with a wink which sums up his confidence as a hooker who once played at fly-half and as a rugby thinker who turned down an unconditional offer to study at Cambridge.

“It is an interesting position,” George continues. “Naturally you have to lead from the front in terms of physicality – and around the field the modern hooker needs to be highly involved. It’s a fascinating balance because you have to compose yourself for lineout throwing which requires mental application and calm. You need to take yourself away from the physical core of the game and get the ball to a precise place. It’s a subtle blend.

“The set piece is still the cornerstone but it’s about everything else we do. Dane Coles [the All Blacks hooker] proves that. Coles is fantastic with the ball in hand and when showing his physicality in defence. He’s setting the benchmark.”

George’s worldly take on the art of playing hooker captures his mood as he enters a new year. In 2016 he was a key member of the remorseless Saracens squad who won the Premiership and European double. George also became an integral presence in a rejuvenated England squad who won all 13 matches under Eddie Jones – including the Grand Slam, a 3-0 whitewash in Australia and all their autumn internationals.

Of course George’s role is complicated. Despite producing the best rugby of his career he has the misfortune of playing in the same position as Dylan Hartley, the man in whom Jones places so much trust as England’s captain. Most pundits argue that, on the pitch, especially in the loose where he can be as skilful as he is dynamic, George has edged ahead of Hartley. But the captain is instrumental to England’s restored belief and George has had to accept coming off the bench and replacing Hartley in the last 20 minutes of a Test.

This year, however, brings fresh opportunity. Hartley may also be an intelligent man away from the heat of battle but on the field he has an infamous reputation. Over the years he has been banned for a total of 60 weeks with his latest suspension following another loss of discipline. Last month Hartley had been on the pitch for only six minutes, having come off the bench for Northampton against Leinster, when he cut down Sean O’Brien with a swinging arm.

Owen Farrell rushes to congratulate Jamie George after the hooker scored the fourth try in England’s 44-40 win against Australia in Sydney in June 2016. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

He was fortunate to escape with a six-week ban – and he will be able to play one game for Northampton before England face France at Twickenham in their first Six Nations match on 4 February. Hartley will remain captain but his stupidity has bolstered the layered credentials of George whose increasing importance to England could also translate into selection for the Lions tour of New Zealand this summer.

“Yeah,” George says of his Lions prospects, “but anyone from the home countries involved in the Six Nations is in with a shout. There are some good hookers around and two other captains of their country. Rory Best [Ireland’s captain]. Ross Ford has also led Scotland. But, if I play well, hopefully I will be in selection talks. The more opportunities I get the better. I love playing for England and it’s great to get the opportunity and to make the most of it.”

He is canny enough to downplay a suggestion that Hartley’s latest mistake may represent a last chance for England’s captain and give George even more belief he can nail down a Test starting place. “I don’t know. No, I wouldn’t say that really. I never really think too much about selection. And I don’t want to think too much about international stuff while I’m here.”

George gestures to Allianz Park where we sit after Saracens have completed another long training session. “You can drag yourself into a vicious cycle and end up thinking ahead and not about the task at hand. You get distracted and your performances go down. John Smit [who led South Africa to victory in the 2007 World Cup before joining Saracens] always told me to focus on what’s next and not what might happen in February. I have a huge game on the weekend [against Exeter who lost to Saracens in the Premiership final last season] and it’s another chance to impress.”

One of the more intriguing asides to his rivalry with Hartley is that the captain seems to value George’s opinion more than most. “We have a very good working relationship and get on really well,” George says. “Dylan will ask my opinion on how sessions have gone. I think he respects my opinion. I’ve got a bit of leadership under my belt and one of my strengths is my knowledge of the game. He just wants to talk to me about it. But he talks to a lot of people because that’s what good captains do. And Dylan is a good captain.”

George has the intelligence to always be included in debate about the game and, here, he cites Smit’s influence. “I played a full season with John at prop and he was hugely important. He would talk to me in the game and say: ‘How do we think this is going?’ John gave me so much time and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He came over for the South Africa game [when England won easily and George replaced Hartley after 56 minutes]. John was very happy for me. It’s a bit surreal to be friends with a legend.”

But the presence of Smit and Schalk Brits, another fine South Africa hooker, tested George at Saracens. For a few seasons he was third-choice behind those two masters. George shakes his head when asked if he has always been patient. “No. I’ve had to learn patience. It was very frustrating because I found a way into the first team quickly – one year after school. I then had a year with John playing with me at prop. But he switched back to hooker so after almost three years of first-team rugby I became third choice. In that frustrating time I changed my attitude and became more effective off the bench. I realised I can’t have five minutes easing myself into the game. I had to make my mark quickly.

“I still rotate with Schalk but this season I’ve definitely started more. It’s 60-40 in my favour. But there’s a lot to be said for serving an apprenticeship and learning under these guys … as long as it doesn’t go on for too long.”

The essence of George is captured when he is asked if he was tempted to leave Saracens for a less competitive environment? “No, no. I grew up supporting Saracens and I’d love to be a one-club man. I have signed a long-term contract and will be here a long, long time.”

The culture of Saracens changed with the appointment of another South African, Brendan Venter, in 2009 – the year George and some of his current team-mates at club and international level joined the academy. George, Owen Farrell and George Kruis were part of an academy team which included Will Fraser and Jackson Wray who remain part of the Saracens squad today.

We have played together for a long time, since we were 14. Owen does most of the creating but I like to try Jamie George

“It’s like the Man United academy which was so strong [with Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Neville brothers]. Our club values are perfect for someone aspiring to be a professional or a great international. We had a special year with those guys and we were hugely motivated. We won the European Under-17 tournament and then played together in the second team.”

George and Farrell have combined to spectacular effect for England – most notably when the hooker produced a sumptuous little offload to set up his friend’s try against Italy in 2015 and, last year, after a deft little grubber kick from George allowed Farrell to score against Australia in the series-clincher in Melbourne.

“We’ve played together a long time,” George says. “Since we were 14. We’ve got a brilliant relationship. We’re best friends so we feed off each other. Owen does most of the creating but I like to try. We’re very close after playing county rugby together and also against each other when we were 13. I was a fly-half then. I guess that’s where I learnt about grubber kicks.”

Was George a good No10? “No! I was terrible. Dreadful. I grew up playing in the backs but moved to No8 and then hooker at 14. I always knew I’d end up there but it was important for my development to play fly-half and centre. You had the ball in your hands a lot and fly-halves are important in terms of leadership. I wasn’t very good but I learned a huge amount.”

Jones was at Saracens when George and Farrell were at the academy. “I was still at school but I played a pre-season game against Western Force when Eddie was there. I was also coached by Eddie at the academy and he stood out as a strong character. He had an aura and you had to be on it. He was always very good, like now, in flicking the switch. He can have a joke with you but then it’s time to work. That’s serious.”

Steve Borthwick, George’s former captain at Saracens is now England’s forwards’ coach, in another link binding the hooker’s past and present. “I played for Steve for five years,” the 26-year-old remembers. “He’s hugely intelligent and a brilliant man. I always knew he’d become a great coach.”

Do Jones and Borthwick keep in touch with him outside of international matches? “You get texts here and there but in camp they talk about games you played four weeks ago. So you know they’re always watching and you want to impress them every week.”

That aspiration is sure to be even sharper this year and George cannot hide his enthusiasm when remembering watching England at Twickenham with his dad as a kid and following the Lions from 1997 with fierce passion. He also tells me about having moved in with his girlfriend Katie Stanyard and his mastery of cooking a sausage pasta bake the night before a big game when, he grins, “you need to pack in the carbs”.

George is the most versatile hooker in English rugby and 2017 could be an even better year for him. “Definitely. Hard work pays off and this is the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. Eddie was a big factor in me seeing that everything you do has a consequence. My mentality now is that I need to finish the day a better player than I started. I’m getting there.”