England rugby captain in town for bike test

ENGLAND rugby captain Dylan Hartley and a famed TV pundit are now officially motorbikers - thanks to a Nuneaton training school.

Two Wheels Nuneaton Motorcycle Training has added yet more celebrities to its list of successes.

Dylan Hartley, England Rugby captain, and top TV pundit David Flatman are now able to hit the open road.

Almost a year after the well-established business helped Hollywood star Tom Hardy pass his test, Tim Smith, who runs Two Wheels with his wife Susan, helped the wellknown rugby faces get their Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certificates.

It means that the pair can now legally ride a 125cc bike according to Suzi Smith, who said the duo were “lovely”.

“It came about through Triumph in Hinckley, we do a lot of work for them and they asked us if we could train Dylan and David,” she said.

“We liaised with them and they came on May 12 to their CBT.”

The official CBT training takes place at Park Lane Primary School and the pair quickly took to two wheels.

“They were great, really good,” Mrs Smith added.

“Park Lane is our CBT accessed site so they were there for a while and also had a two hour ride around Nuneaton.”

Having completed their first certificate the pair could return to the Nuneaton school: “They can now ride a 125cc but if they want to ride anything bigger they will need to do a direct access course,” Mrs Smith added.

“I suppose it is down to their schedules but we would obviously welcome them back. They were great with the other customers who were taking their CBT, having photographs taken, nothing was a problem for them.

“Someone from Triumph came with their little boy and he had a rugby ball, Dylan messed about playing rugby with him on the school field, he was great.”

Hartley, who plays for Northampton Saints, is due to miss England’s forthcoming South African tour as he is still recovering from the serious concussion he suffered in the Six Nations in March.

Former rugby star David Flatman, known as ‘Flats,’ is the face of BT Sport club and European rugby.