The 24-year-old captained the Tigers for the first time against Saracens in the Aviva Premiership a fortnight ago and Cockerill believes the talented forward has the responsibility and traits ideally suited to leading a team.

"Croft is learning his game but if England need him to captain the side, he will do it," said the Leicester boss.

"He is a captain here because he is a stand-out player and you need your captain to be one of the first names on the team-sheet. Tom is that person.

"He leads by how he plays and there is no reason why he can't captain his country. If he gets asked to do it, he will be more than capable."

Croft played in all three tests for the Lions in South Africa in 2009, scoring a brace on his debut at the ABSA Stadium.

England face the might of all three Tri-Nations sides in November along with Pacific Islanders Samoa and kick of their campaign against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday 6 November.