Rugby great questions Eddie Jones' loyalty to Kiwi skipper

England's Dylan Hartley. Photo / INPHO/James Crombie

Former England rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio has questioned coach Eddie Jones' loyalty to Kiwi-born skipper Dylan Hartley.

In his latest column in London's Sunday Times, he said England did not look good enough to win next year's World Cup in Japan unless there were personnel changes.

"What baffles me is that England knew what was coming in Edinburgh [England's Six Nations loss to Scotland]. Because they are a good team, there was the expectation they would be ready for it. Sadly from an English point of view, they weren't," Dallaglio wrote.

"That does not mean they have become a bad team but questions were raised by the Murrayfield defeat that may result in significant personnel changes.

"Issues have to be addressed because when you now put the pluses on one side and the minuses on the other, the bottom line is a team who do not look good enough to win the World Cup in Japan next year.

"Jones still has a lot of thinking to do. First, he must work out whether it makes sense to continue with Hartley as captain," Dallaglio wrote.

"England have done well under the hooker's leadership: 24 wins from 26 test matches is a formidable record. Ideally, the captain should be one of the team's strongest players but Hartley is not. He is often one of the first players to be substituted and, again, that is far from ideal.''

He said that if the captain was not the best player in his position it wasn't a great starting point. ''I don't see Hartley as better than Jamie George. I can see why the coach might not want to change his captain but in my view there is greater risk in not making the change.

"Since the World Cup started in 1987, every winning captain has been an exceptional leader and outstanding player; David Kirk, Nick Farr-Jones, Francois Pienaar, John Eales, Martin Johnson, John Smit and Richie McCaw. I'm not saying Hartley can't lead England to victory in Japan but to do so, he will have to break the mould."