Eddie Jones has offered a solution to Warren Gatland’s British and Irish Lions captaincy dilemma, by suggesting he chooses four skippers for the tour of New Zealand.

Jones has opened up on his view of the Lions since the end of the Six Nations at the weekend, with the England head coach no longer tasked with trying to win a second consecutive title after retaining the championship this year.

Having kept hush on this summer’s Lions tour throughout the six-week championship, Jones has now spoke openly about how the All Blacks are “there for the taking”, and offered his view on the captaincy debate with a fairly radical solution.

He suggested taking all four national team captains and making them a core leadership group on the tour, with England’s Dylan Hartley, Ireland’s Rory Best, Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw and Wales’s Alun Wyn Jones all in the reckoning.

"I would take those four captains and make that the leadership group," Jones said, speaking to ESPN at the Advertising Week Europe business event in London.

"Then after the warm-up games, whoever was the leading player I would make captain for the first Test.

"You look at the last Lions tour and Sam Warburton captained the first two and Alun Wyn Jones captained the third, so I think you can separate it.

"It would be different but I would reckon you would get a great result, with those four captains running the team for you and making sure they set the standards on and off the field."

Jones’s suggestion does come with its issues though, given there is plenty of doubt around Hartley and Laidlaw’s inclusion in the tour as players alone. Hartley is facing stiff competition from Best, Ken Owens of Wales and fellow England hooker Jamie George, while Laidlaw will need to oust one of Conor Murray, Rhys Webb and Ben Youngs, with the respective Irish, Welsh and English scrum-halves looking the front-runners for a place among the tour squad.

British and Irish Lions captain candidates Show all 6 1 /6 British and Irish Lions captain candidates British and Irish Lions captain candidates Alun Wyn Jones Jones is probably still the leading candidate for the captaincy, even if his, and Wales’, Six Nations was not what they were hoping for. Jones took the Welsh armband from Sam Warburton for the championship but at times looked uneasy at making a call, such as when he was overruled when Wales opted to go for the corner against Scotland, rather than taking the shot at three points. Jones captained the Lions in the deciding third Test against Australia in 2013 and is a guaranteed starter if fit – something Gatland is keen for his captain to be, although not a necessity. AFP/Getty Images British and Irish Lions captain candidates Sam Warburton Had Wales not finished fifth in the championship with three defeats, there is a good chance Warburton would have been named player of the tournament. The way he reacted to losing the Wales captaincy and moving to blindside flanker has been phenomenal and he is now the bookies’ favourite after his performances and having already led the Lions to a tour victory. Of Warburton’s chances, Gatland said: “He's a different captain to some other players. He leads by example. He doesn't say a lot but he has had that experience. He's one of the guys potentially in contention, definitely.” However, he has been so good without the burden of the armband, would giving it to him hinder his performances? Getty Images British and Irish Lions captain candidates Dylan Hartley Before his red card for Northampton in December, Hartley was the frontrunner for the armband but now his place on the plane is not even assured. For England, Jamie George has impressed and could usurp his captain’s position over the next 12 months, with Hartley arguably not even the third most impressive Hooker the home nations boasted during this year’s Six Nations. However, his grit and fire has been one of the reasons for England’s success under Eddie Jones and it is that sort of personality which could be vital in the hotbed of New Zealand. Getty Images British and Irish Lions captain candidates Rory Best The way Best led Ireland to ending England’s unbeaten run shows that he has the ability to motivate the players around him in tough and gritty situations. He has also captained a side to a win over the All Blacks, the only candidate who is able to say that. Best is certainly a viable candidate but the question mark that remains hanging over him is if he is good enough to start at hooker against the All Blacks? Hartley, Best, George and Wales’ Ken Owens are all in with a shout. AFP/Getty Images British and Irish Lions captain candidates Owen Farrell Farrell was player of the tournament after a stunning Six Nations. His kicking is up there with Leigh Halfpenny’s as amongst the best in the world and he has the right mentality of a captain having been schooled under Eddie Jones. Farrell looks certain to start at 12 for the Lions and would make a fierce captain. However, having not captained an international side from the start, how would he fare leading the most intense tour the Lions have embarked on? It is a tough challenge for the most weathered of captains, never mind a novice. AFP/Getty Images British and Irish Lions captain candidates Conor Murray An outside shout for captain but the way he controls the game from around the ruck shows his importance to the Lions. He, like Best, has experience of beating the All Blacks and of a winning Lions Tour (like everyone on this list, other than Hartley). He has captaincy experience but while he was a certain starter a month ago, the performances of Rhys Webb have given Gatland a real decision to make. He said he wants to pick his squad first and then his captain and that could go against Murray in the decision-making process if Webb is now considered ahead of him. Getty

Gatland, who will name his squad on 19 April, admitted that being the captain does not result in an automatic place in his starting Test squad. "I think the captaincy is a great honour, but whoever the captain is going to be there'll be no guarantee he plays in the Tests," Gatland said on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme on Sunday.

"His form has to be good enough. I think whoever that person is has to rise to that, the message to that person is it's a great honour to captain the Lions but your form has to be good enough to be selected for the Tests.