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| England tour of South Africa |
|---|
| 1st Test: Saturday, 9 June in Johannesburg (kick-off 16:05 BST) 2nd Test: Saturday, 16 June in Bloemfontein (kick-off 16:05) 3rd Test: Saturday, 23 June in Cape Town (kick-off 16:05) |
| Coverage: Live text coverage on BBC Sport website and app |
England head coach Eddie Jones has praised new captain Owen Farrell, saying he is a “winner” who will put his own stamp on the team.
Fly-half Farrell has replaced Dylan Hartley as skipper for next month’s South Africa tour as the latter takes a break to recover from concussion.
“Owen is a completely different character to Dylan,” Jones said.
“He has a different cultural background. Dylan is from Rotorua, Owen is from Wigan.”
He also compared Farrell’s leadership style to that of Australia great George Gregan.
“Gregan was fantastic,” Jones said. “I have never seen a stronger winner than him. He demanded stuff from the team and they were frightened not to give it to him. He was super on the field but not as good off it.
“They think about things differently, they look at things differently. Owen will put his own stamp on the team. And we want him to do that.
“We need to find people who can work off the field to help Owen.
“You don’t expect a captain immediately to be this all-conquering figure. It takes time, it takes effort and it takes patience.
“Owen has got the job for South Africa so he has five weeks to work through, find his own style, influence the team and we will see how he goes.”