England’s next assignment is not until the pre-tour match against Wales at Twickenham on May 29 before the squad depart for Australia. Hartley will hope to have returned to action for Northampton long before then. What is certain is that the player who was not considered for last year’s World Cup because of a ban for head-butting Jamie George that ruled him out of the opening match against Fiji is now considered central to the fortunes of Jones’s squad.

“The great thing about Dylan is that he’s a bit of a rogue and he’s a likeable rogue,” Jones added.

“He’s got good people skills, he is not afraid to tell people what they should be doing when they are not doing it and he’s not afraid to give someone a pat on the pack – he’s done an outstanding job as captain. He can still get better, as captain, and he will, but he has done a really good job.”