Rugby: England working on Dylan Hartley's tackling technique

England skipper Dylan Hartley is set to return from a ban in the Six Nations opener. Photosport

Dylan Hartley, who will be named as England's captain for the Six Nations on Wednesday, has been ordered to improve his tackling technique in an effort to prevent a repeat of the six-week suspension he received after being sent off for swinging his arm at the head of Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien.

Hartley underwent a Test-match simulated fitness test on Thursday to prove to head coach Eddie Jones he is fit to lead England for the Six Nations opener against France on Feb 4 despite playing just six minutes of rugby in more than two months.

Jones revealed that England have been working on Hartley's tackle technique during his suspension - he is free to play again on Jan 23 - to reduce the risk of further red cards following World Rugby's crackdown on dangerous play.

"More cards are not inevitable," said Jones, who arrived with his England squad in the Algarve today for a five-day training camp. "It comes down to technique and decision-making.

"Players chasing high kicks have to make better decisions, run the proper arc and get in a position where they can see the player coming down and the flight of the ball and make a decision. It is about better technique, the same as tackling.

"It is like Dylan, if he has his arms in close he does not hit a bloke like that. We are consistently reinforcing good technique. We have spoken to Dylan and he has done numerous skill ­sessions to pick it up. He is not the only one with that flaw."

And that, according to Jones, could hand France, resurgent under head coach Guy Novès, an advantage at Twickenham. "They have improved in the understanding of how they play," Jones added. "I have been really impressed. If France are playing rucks, they're just an average team.

"They are picking guys who want to play above the defence; people talk about playing through the defence or playing around the defence, and they do, but they are now starting to play above defence, picking a lot of tall, big guys who can get above the defence and create offloads. Once they get an offload they go back to the old France, with the movement, tempo and rhythm off the ball coming in. We have not seen that before and that is where they are dangerous."

Jones however insisted England would not be tempted to tackle higher specifically against France, given the risks of the new directives. "You are better off tackling in the right zone with 15 than you are with 14," he said. "The inevitability is that the game could free up even more and offloads come in even more. The other side is that people have to improve their ­tackle technique.

"If I am able to hit you and stick on you rather than give space you are not going to get an offload away. When ­defence accelerates the attack catches up and vice versa. We will see over a period of time of what improves the most. At our last assembly we got Jason Ryles [the Melbourne Storm defence coach] in to work on tackle technique because that is what they do for a living and Paul Gustard is continuing that because we have identified it is going to be really important.

"It will be part of what we do in ­Portugal. The double tackle will be more difficult and technically you are going to have to be more correct. If you loosen that second tackle you have a chance of making contact with the head so it could free up the game more. Defences will be under more pressure, initially anyway."