Lancaster made it clear that his patience is running thin with the talented but hot-tempered Hartley as he included him in his Six Nations squad.

Hartley has just returned from a  three week ban for elbowing in the English Premiership. He has a chequered history with the judiciary with a suspension tally of 50 weeks for various offences that include eye-gouging, biting, punching and swearing.

The England management have already stressed the importance of discipline to Hartley and Lancaster plans to reinforce that.

"(England forwards coach) Graham (Rowntree) spoke to him and I'm going to speak to him in the camp," said Lancaster.

"If you give away dumb penalties clearly it's going to compromise your chances of winning, particularly against Wales who have Leigh Halfpenny who can kick goals from everywhere.

"I'll be making it absolutely crystal clear to Dylan, one to one, but also the team, that discipline has to be top-notch."

England open their Six Nations campaign with a difficult away assignment against Wales in Cardiff. There are fears that the Welsh will try to bait Hartley whose indiscretions have come at test level as well as during club play.

Lancaster was furious with Hartley for giving up a cheap yellow card in England's 31-28 defeat to South Africa last November, and wants no repeats in a year that is crucial to the World Cup hosts.

England's pleasing progress under Lancaster stalled last year and he is under pressure to move his team up a notch as the World Cup pressure builds.

Getting an early stake in the ground in Cardiff is important.

"I remember going into the game in Wales two years ago, and through penalties we ended up 9-3 down going into halftime which then extended to 12-3," said Lancaster.

"And then before you knew it the first try came.

"I'll speak to Dylan individually about all that."