Dylan Hartley will be keeping a close eye on the Ashes and hopes his England side can kick-start two months of Anglo-Australia rivalry with a win against the Wallabies on Saturday.
England coach Eddie Jones is predicting a "ripper of a game" on Saturday at Twickenham against the Wallabies and Hartley, though by his own admission is not much of a cricket fan, sent a resolute message to Australia with the Ashes to start on Wednesday in Brisbane.
"I'm going to watch the Ashes," Hartley said. "I want England to win the Ashes and I want us to beat Australia at Twickenham."
Alastair Cook has been in touch with Hartley after he lost a bet with a journalist over the score of Wasps-Northampton Saints. Cook, a Saints fan, now has to buy the journalist dinner as Wasps won, and sent a text message to Hartley asking where he should send the bill.
Hartley was not sure if the rugby team will send their cricket counterparts a good luck message with his focus solely on Saturday's match up with the Wallabies but England coach Jones, a huge cricket fan, will be keeping a close eye on events Down Under as the excitement builds ahead of the opening Test match at the Gabba.
"There's nothing better than an Australia versus England sporting contest," England boss Jones said. "We've had it in cricket, the rugby league was on the other week and I watched that with interest. I'm looking forward to this, it should be a ripper of a game.
"We want Australia to bring their best form to the game. We want to play against them at their best and see how we go."