Owen Farrell returns to the England captaincy challenging himself to improve the way he communicates with referees.
Farrell leads the side against Argentina, at Twickenham tomorrow, just 24 hours after being signed off following concussion.
In the absence of Courtney Lawes he reclaims the armband with team boss Eddie Jones demanding England work with ref Andrew Brace.
Farrell, 31, has not always invited sympathy from officials with body language which occasionally strays towards confrontational.
And last night he admitted: “The challenge for me is the way that I play the game, the way I present myself at times when I'm playing the game.
“I don't think always it’s necessarily what I say, it is sometimes making sure that you’re giving off the right message as well. It’s realising what is wanted from the other side as well.”
There is no player Jones would rather have in his team, waxing lyrical on the eve of battle about his “competitive spirit, unbelievable desire to win and ability to lead from the front and bring people with him”.
None of that is in doubt, the question is whether he can achieve even more for the cause by doing a better impression of Sam Warburton in his dealings with the man in the middle.
“There's different captains all over the world,” Farrell said. “There's been really, really calm ones that are good. And there's been some explosive ones that have been really good as well.
“I want to be me and I want to work on how I be a better me.”
As Warburton proved when talking the ref down from a last-gasp penalty which would have cost the 2017 Lions a shared series in New Zealand, forging a working relationship with officials is a key quality.
Just last month Jones spoke of the need “to have one of our leaders establish a good relationship” with the ref, adding that we “can’t have players yelling and screaming” at him.
He spoke of England’s “need” for Farrell, describing him as “the most energetic and one of the most committed players I’ve ever seen”.
He admitted that without him “we lose a huge percentage of our fight”. But he added: ”We also need someone who is composed and speaks to the referee well. We need both.”
Against a hugely physical Pumas side fired up by Jones’ old Aussie sparring partner Michael Cheika, tomorrow will likely test the temperament of all involved.
To that end England have been working to grow their leadership and have what Farrell terms a “better impact as a group”.
Ellis Genge and Jack Nowell have been appointed Farrell’s lieutenants and led the sessions at last week’s training camp in the captain’s absence.
Jones says great strides were made but the true measure will be when Twickenham comes alive.
England appear to have the tools for the job. Whether they have the right words too only time will tell.
England: Steward; Nowell, Tuilagi, Farrell (capt), Cokanasiga; Smith, Youngs; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Coles, Hill, Itoje, Curry, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Singleton, M Vunipola, Heyes, Ribbans, Simmonds, Willis, Van Poortvliet, Slade
Argentina: Mallia; Carreras, Moroni, De La Fuente, Boffelli; Carreras, Bertranou; Gallo, Montoya, Gomez Kodela, Alemanno, Lavanini, Gonzalez Samso, Kremer, Matera.
