Eddie Jones may have been indulging in wishful thinking as his side trained at their base in St Albans yesterday. Steve Borthwick, said Saracens' director of rugby, could be every bit as influential as Martin Johnson was at Leicester. As the one-time England captain probably features in some of the former Australia coach's worst nightmares, that is some compliment.

"Why did I make Steve captain? Because he's got a hard edge to him. He's very much like Johnson. People say Borthwick isn't a ball-carrier. Well, neither was Johnson but both have a winning mentality and are intelligent and have a professional attitude. I wanted those leadership qualities and hardness, which is what Steve and Wikus van Heerden will give us."

Van Heerden, a former South Africa flanker, will not arrive until November but Borthwick has moved from one Roman city, Bath, to another, St Albans, this summer. The man who led England on tour in June will lead his new club out at Twickenham to play Harlequins in the second match of the Guinness Premiership London Double Header on Saturday.

Making the 28-year-old lock his co-captain, alongside Andy Farrell, is a significant statement by Jones, who also arrived this summer. To say that this has been a roller-coaster year for Borthwick is something of an understatement. In January, Bath stripped him of their captaincy after he announced his move to Saracens. Borthwick had been critical of Bath's management over a perceived lack of investment in players at the end of the previous season but the demotion angered his team-mates as well as himself. His response was to lead Bath to a European Challenge Cup final victory over Worcester in an emotional final match. The following month he was leading England on their calamitous trip to New Zealand, where both Tests ended in heavy defeats and allegations and investigations concerning some players' behaviour off the field provoked a media frenzy.

Borthwick's final game at the Recreation Ground, where he had spent a decade, saw Bath run in 66 points against his new club. It was a bittersweet farewell.

"Bath's in the past. I have some great memories but I don't want to dwell on them now," he said. "My whole focus is now with Saracens. What appealed to me was what Eddie Jones was trying to build at this club. He has an ambition and a vision and it was a straightforward decision to move in the end.

"Bath is a great club but living there, near the club, as I did, you are living and breathing it all the time. Part of my responsibility was to talk to supporters and, yes, people are going to give you their opinions. Bath is a small, tight community while this corner of Hertfordshire is a different type of community and place so I and the likes of Chris Jack can sometimes go unrecognised in the street."

Two enormous international second rows (Jack is a 67-cap All Black) may sometimes go unrecognised but Jones is hoping that Saracens gain a higher profile this season. They reached the Heineken Cup semi-finals last spring, giving Munster, the eventual champions, a good run for their euros, but for all Nigel Wray's millions, no silverware has headed Saracens' way since 1998, when they won the domestic cup.

If his selection for Saturday is anything to go by, Jones will keep opponents guessing. He has named Jack at blindside flanker, a position that, until pre-season, the former All Black could not remember playing since school. Borthwick is with Hugh Vyvyan in the second row.

"It's an interesting move," Borthwick said. "I might have been expecting to play alongside Chris in the second row but he's a quality player and he'll make his mark at No6 and be a powerful force this season."

Internationally, this is a crucial time. The former England coach Brian Ashton said that Borthwick had been an "angry young man" at the end of last year's World Cup, in which he did not feature as much as he would have liked. Martin Johnson, now in charge, offered him the captaincy for the New Zealand trip after the lock had stepped in to lead the side, in Phil Vickery's absence, against Italy in Rome last season. The Wasps prop will be a candidate to captain England again this autumn.

"I've enjoyed being England captain and would love to carry on doing it but Martin Johnson hasn't dropped any hints to me about the captaincy," Borthwick said. "It was great honour to lead England in New Zealand but of course I would have liked the tour to have gone another way. It's also a great honour to be made captain of Saracens and I want to do them proud."

Saracens do not play Bath until next March but when they do, Borthwick should certainly help ensure the West Country club do not put 66 points past them again.

New men, new dangers

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Chris Latham Worcester

Past 33 and hampered by injury but the Australian has been the best full-back in the world. Worcester want him to expand their play

Olly Barkley Gloucester

The England man's move up the A46 from Bath raises an intriguing question - where does he play? At fly-half, in place of the promising Ryan Lamb, or inside-centre in place of the promising Anthony Allen?

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The former France flanker has swapped Biarritz for High Wycombe. A fearsome tackler, as Jonny Wilkinson will readily testify, he will provide important cover for Wasps' England back-rowers