England skipper Dylan Hartley to prove match fitness with a stimulated game on Wednesday

England skipper Dylan Hartley will be facing a stimulated match on Wednesday to prove his fitness ahead of their title defence in the upcoming Six Nations 2017 tournament.

Hartley is currently serving a six-week ban after he performed a stiff arm tackle on Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien while playing for his club Northampton Saints.

England coach Eddie Jones has opted against playing the 30-year-old in the Anglo-Welsh Cup but instead he will undergo an intense training session monitored by an England back room staff.

"Dylan has a game simulation, so we'll have a pretty good idea how he's shaping up then," Jones said.

"He'll do a session that's the equivalent of a game. A game of Test rugby is approximately 36 minutes of ball in play. You have to run around 120 metres per minute, that's the average speed.

"It's old school - run hard, get up, get off the ground, run again. It will give us a very good indication of where Dylan is and his ability to play rugby.

"He's got to be able to do a session of that quality and if he can do a session of that quality he can do a game.

"We'll make a decision on him on Wednesday, one minute after he's done the session because we're going to name our squad on Friday.

"I don't have to worry about him not passing. I'm anticipating him going well because all his training parameters are good so far.

"It's like having a racehorse that does trials - if they run fast in the trials there's a good chance they're going to run fast in the race."

Contrary to the belief that Hartley might struggle without match fitness, Jones believes time away from the game has benefited the Northampton Saints hooker.

"I've never seen Dylan look fitter. You'd want him to have been playing rugby, but he's certainly benefited from six weeks of strength and conditioning," Jones said.

"That's probably put him in better condition than he was for last year's Six Nations. It's a combination between Northampton's and our staff."

Meanwhile, Jones also refused to rule out Joe Marler out of the tournament opener against France on 4th February after he suffered a fractured leg but stated that Saracens' George Kruis might be under doubt for the Twickenham clash.

"Marler might be all right for the France game, you never know. He's down at Brighton, they have good sea air down there so the recuperation can be quicker," Jones said.

"Kruis is going to be borderline for the French game. It's just the way the cheekbone is.

"You can have a broken cheekbone and play the next day or you can have an operation and it will be three or four weeks. It's just how they mend."