Hartley faces Six Nations fitness test
England captain Dylan Hartley will undergo a ‘trial match’ tosday in a bid to find out whether he can lead the reigning Grand Slam champions into next month’s Six Nations. The Northampton hooker is currently serving a six-week ban for striking. England coach Eddie Jones has made it clear he does not want the New Zealand-born front row playing in the Anglo-Welsh Cup when Hartley’s suspension expires and that means his skipper won’t have played since December 9 when France arrive at Twickenham on February 4 for a Six Nations opener. Northampton will put Hartley through his paces today in a bid to replicate the demands of an international match. “Dylan has a game simulation, so we’ll have a pretty good idea how he’s shaping up then,” Jones said.
“He’ll do a session that’s the equivalent of a game. A game of Test rugby is approximately 36 minutes of ball in play. You have to run around 120 metres per minute, that’s the average speed. “It’s old school-run hard, get up, get off the ground, run again. It will give us a very good indication of where Dylan is and his ability to play rugby,” the Australian coach added. “He’s got to be able to do a session of that quality and if he can do a session of that quality he can do a game.
“We’ll make a decision on him on today, one minute after he’s done the session because we’re going to name our squad on Friday. Hartley, whose poor disciplinary record has seen him miss more than a year of rugby because of several suspensions, was red-carded for swinging an arm at Sean O’Brien just six minutes after coming on in Northampton’s European Champions Cup loss to Leinster on December 9 Jones, however, said the break had done Hartley good in terms of his overall conditioning.
“I’ve never seen Dylan look fitter. You’d want him to have been playing rugby, but he’s certainly benefited from six weeks of strength and conditioning,” he said.
“That’s probably put him in better condition than he was for last year’s Six Nations. It’s a combination between Northampton’s and our staff.” England, who have won all 13 of their Tests since Jones took charge after the 2015 World Cup, have injury doubts over several players. But Hartley’s fellow forwards Joe Marler and George Kruis could both be available for the visit of France.
Harlequins prop Marler is recovering from a fractured leg while lock Kruis, who plays for English and European champions Saracens, is on course to face the French following a fractured cheekbone.
“Marler might be all right for the France game, you never know. He’s down at Brighton, they have good sea air down there so the recuperation can be quicker,” Jones said. “Kruis is going to be borderline for the French game. It’s just the way the cheekbone is.” You can have a broken cheekbone and play the next day or you can have an operation and it will be three or four weeks. It’s just how they mend.”— AFP