England Boss Martin Johnson has confirmed that Steve Borthwick will continue to captain England through the Six Nations.
Borthwick has captained England in every Test that Johnson, himself a former lock, has been in charge of since the World Cup winning captain became manager in 2008.
However, their record as manager and captain of six wins from 14 Tests with eight defeats has led to questions being asked of both men's suitability for their respective roles.
Many observers have also repeatedly queried whether Borthwick is worth a place in the side purely as a lock but Monday's announcement means that, barring injury, the 30-year-old is set to retain the captaincy for the whole of the Six Nations.
When Johnson announced his initial Six Nations squad, he was asked why he had not also named a captain.
He replied: "Steve's done a great job but everyone is competing for places. That's the way it has to be and the way Steve would want it."
Leicester back-row Lewis Moody, England's outstanding player during a lacklustre November home series, and fit-again Harlequins No 8 Nick Easter were both touted as alternative captains.
But the longstanding criticism of Borthwick has often perplexed those who've worked with him at close quarters, particularly Johnson and Saracens boss Brendan Venter.
Under his captaincy, Saracens have become contenders for the Premiership title this season and former Springbok centre Venter said: "We are a good rugby side because of Steve Borthwick.
"If we are going to end up having a great season and competing at the highest level it is because of Steve Borthwick. Steve is everything I want in a captain."
The England Senior EPS players arrived in Portugal over the last day and have started preparing for their opening Six Nations match against Wales on Saturday, February the 6th.
The England squad will be based at the Browns training complex on the Algarve where the squad trained last year and which was also used as a training camp by the England U20 squad last month.
The squad will depart Portugal on Friday before reconvening at the Pennyhill Park Hotel on Sunday night.
On arrival in Portugal the Senior England EPS were medically assessed and reviewed.
England Team Manager Martin Johnson has also called up a number of players as injury cover:
Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
The aforementioned players are providing replacement cover for:
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers)
Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers)
Meanwhile Ben Youngs will return to the Saxons squad on Tuesday evening. Tom Palmer will train with the squad until Tuesday before returning to Stade Francais.
James Haskell (Stade Francais) has had scans on his knee injury which sustained at the weekend and an announcement will be made once more is known about the scan.
