Jamie George is a hugely positive and exciting selection as England captain.

The Saracens hooker probably should have been given the Red Rose armband two or three years ago. That is absolutely not to denigrate the great Owen Farrell, who remains a fantastic leader and talisman, But George can bring a renewed feel-good factor to this team, and reconnect them with the English public.

I can see why England talked about people writing them off at the World Cup, but as it was pointed out at the time, no one actually did write them off. In reality, huge numbers of people want England to do well and are behind them all the way.

George has earned a huge amount of respect all over the rugby world. He is respected by opponents as well. And he can tread that careful line between keeping the opposition concerned without gifting them extra motivation.

George's strong character and natural openness hopefully means more of players' characters and personalities can start to emerge, and when George's honesty comes through too, then hopefully that will permeate through the team.

As for George's captaincy, I'm a firm believer that forwards are in a much more favourable position to lead a team. They are close to the referee most of the time, so they can have quiet conversations and keep things low-key.

England's new era looks extremely exciting too, especially with five potential debuts for this match.

Ethan Roots has a big job slotting into the back-row, especially with Courtney Lawes having retired. But the Kiwi-born flanker has been hugely impressive for Exeter, and deserves this chance.

Earlier this season, Richard Hill flagged up to Steve Borthwick some footage from the Premiership Cup, of Roots showing exactly why he might have Test-level potential. When my old World Cup-winning team-mate Hill examines a flanker and decides they have what it takes, frankly, no further endorsement is necessary.

Borthwick picking Tommy Freeman and Fraser Dingwall is exciting too, especially because of Northampton's Gallagher Premiership table-topping form.

England's biggest challenge really, though, is to win more games than they lose in this Six Nations. No one can expect a Grand Slam from England, because they are still in an early stage of development and rebuilding under Borthwick.

Some of the problems of the past were of their own making of course, but now is the time to press forward.

If England can win three matches, and build some confidence and momentum, then that will be a successful Six Nations for them.

Good on Farrell for looking at this move to France, and all respect to Jack Willis for staying at Toulouse.

But England will be all the poorer for missing the players who are in France and not available for selection. I understand why the RFU brought that rule in when they did, but it is outdated now and needs to be removed.

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