Nick Cain reports
Hartley’s out to derail the Jamie juggernaut
DYLAN Hartley says he is not taking questions on the England captaincy ahead of his European Cup head-to-head with Jamie George. It is a touchy subject for Hartley given that the superconsistent Saracens and Lions Test hooker has made no bones this week about wanting to depose Northampton’s controversial national skipper as England’s firstchoice hooker.
The fact that George comes into the crucial all-English Pool 2 opener as part of a Saracens side that arrives at Franklin’s Gardens today as back-to-back European champions, and is top of the Premiership with a third of the season played, only builds the tension.
Add to that the powerful wind George has in his sails having scaled the virtually unheard of peak for a hooker of scoring a hattrick of tries in Saracens’ Premiership romp against Wasps last weekend, and it is ratcheted up another few clicks.
Then, to test the breaking strain further, there is the nine-try humiliation that Northampton suffered at the hands of Saracens at Twickenham six weeks ago. As the Saints crashed to a 55-24 defeat Hartley was as anonymous as the rest of his crew against a team with whom they have had a frequently acrimonious rivalry.
It stretches back seven years to the Saints taking umbrage at a raucous Saracens victory sing-song in the changing rooms at Franklin’s Gardens, and it is reflected in a disciplinary powder-keg between the competing hookers which has exploded once already.
One of Hartley’s most costly redmist moments came when he caught George with a relatively innocuous head-butt in a league encounter in May 2015. Although no damage was done, Hartley was castigated for his behaviour by the disciplinary panel and given a fourweek suspension which led to former England coach Stuart Lancaster leaving him out of his 2015 World Cup squad. However, since Eddie Jones threw Hartley a lifeline by making him captain at the start of his England coaching tenure, the Saints hooker has repaid his patronage by hauling himself into a near unassailable position after leading England to 19 wins in 20 matches.
It has not deterred George’s challenge one jot, but Hartley – who returned from a hand injury last weekend only for Northampton’s four match winning streak to stall at Gloucester – appears to have learned a strategic trick or two from Jones.
As we sit overlooking a Northampton pitch which is in superb condition, as unblemished as Hartley’s record is scarred by disciplinary divots, he starts by portraying himself as the underdog in the imminent battle of the hookers.
Hartley’s vow not to talk about England is broken momentarily, as, despite his 86 international caps, he seizes the moment to tread humble ground.
“I’m not an England player – I’m an aspiring England player. If I play well for my club, as an aspiring England player would, I’ll give myself a shot. Like I said, Eddie has made it clear he’s not just picking players because of what they’ve done. Nothing comes easy, everything’s earned – and I wouldn’t expect it any other way.”
The suggestion that being the incumbent England captain should give him a handy run-up sees him return to the theme: “Aspiring England captain. It’s on me to make an example. I need to be playing well...so I’ll try and score a hat-trick this weekend.”
The reference to George’s landmark is good natured enough, and Hartley attempts to play down the jagged competitive edge that now exists between them.
When I ask whether their relationship is one of mates, or whether it’s cooler and they just keep things cordial, Hartley says: “I don’t know what cordial is. To me it is squash, juice. We have a good working relationship. Again, I look forward to the challenge. It is not about me and him. I am aware you guys would like it to be about that, a pretty good headline for you. We are teammates in another environment. It works.”
Where Hartley is mistaken is that it is about him and George, and he knows it. The hooking clash may be a battle within the wider battle of Saints v Saracens, but if George emerges clearly in credit, with an advantage in the set-piece and the loose, it could change selection not just at No.2, but in captaincy.
What Hartley knows also is that while he can play to the edge, testing George, right, and Saracens to the maximum under the laws, he cannot afford to stray over it and risk having his Test career brought to an abrupt halt by another sending-off or citing.
What Hartley has in his locker is the confidence that he has risen to challenges when he has been put on the spot before, most notably when Warren Gatland questioned his mettle ahead of England’s visit to Wales in the 2011 Six Nations.
Whether at 31 he can do so again with seven years more mileage on the clock, under pressure from a Lions Test hooker like George, who is four years younger, is the question. However, Hartley is not ducking it, and says that with Northampton rising to third in the Premiership he is looking forward to having another crack at Saracens.
“It’s been six weeks since we got a hiding, and that was about us being at one end of the scale and them being at the other. They were white hot and we were stone cold. In six weeks we’ve made some big gains,
“It’s on me to make an example. I need to be playing well...so I’ll try and score a hat-trick”
“I don’t know what cordial is. To me it is squash, juice. We have a good working relationship”
so to get another shot to test ourselves against European champions and league leaders is a good opportunity for us to see where we’re it.” Hartley says the magnitude of the loss prompted scene soul-search It’s ing. Its hard because when we went into that game the prep had been really good, the pre-season had been really good, every The sun was shining, the grass looked good, and we were winning games. “When you get a humbling defeat like that (you ask) did we prepare as well as we could, and so we went back to the drawing board. When everything’s going well maybe you can cut corners there and get a bit complacent in preparation so we went back to basics.” Hartley believes that there was one basic in particular that Northampton failed to produce. “One thing in that game that we lacked – that you cannot lack in a game of rugby – is physicality. You cannot even take the pitch if you aren’t physical, because as soon as you don’t have physicality you are on the back foot all game. It is a very difficult game to be in when you are not winning collisions. In dominant collisions in that game we had one positive tackle from Courtney Lawes, and one other. So, we went away and focused on physicality.”
He suggests that there was a failure within the Saints squad in terms of intensity: “It doesn’t mean on Saturday turning up and saying you’re going to be physical, it’s about how you prepare in the week. It’s about set-piece wise, physically were we challenging ourselves? Was the squad preparing the team as best we could?”
Hartley adds: “That’s what we’ve gone away and done. The squad’s really pulled tight and we’ve prepared a whole lot better. Messages in meetings have been a lot clearer, and we’ve played good rugby – good workmanlike rugby with unselfish work being done and some good tries being scored. So, it was a good thing for us, that first game... in a roundabout way.”
Even as a grizzled veteran Hartley says the energy in the air in Northampton this week in both the club and the town is catching.
“There’s excitement, big excitement. We have had a good rest – we shot some clay pigeons the other day as a team, so we had a day less training, which is good.
“Six weeks into the season it is not a bad thing to do. We love playing here and it is a big occasion, one we fought really hard for. We extended our season by three European qualification games (in May), and what was a poor season by our standards we took something from (by securing) top flight European rugby. We are hugely excited about this game and being in the tournament.”
Hartley is enthused, too, by the quality of the squad that Northampton can call on in their latest European quest. “We are building nicely. The bones of the team have been around the club for a while, and we have some good local youth – Tom Collins is getting a shot – and we have added some international class in Cobus Reinach and Rob Horne.”
He continues: “The balance of the squad is really good, and the reason those guys signed for the club was to play in this tournament, the premier club tournament in the rugby world. I was talking to Rob Horne about it and he is pumped. He wants to be involved. And we do not have too many injuries, just Mitch Eadie at the moment. We have everyone fighting for a spot.”
Hartley also finds positives in the Sunday evening kick-off time. “We’ve got Thursday with a game on, then Friday, Saturday, and we’ll probably see some on Sunday morning.
“So the boys will be really pumped – they’ll have been watching rugby all week. I love it, watching footy on the couch on Friday night, and obviously hydrating for the game the next day. It gets you looking forward to the game, and the boys will be buzzing, and all eyes are on the game especially with us playing against the holders. It’s a big spectacle for the club.”
Ask the Northampton captain whether Saracens’ record as European champions earns them automatic respect, and he stays diplomatic.
“Of course you’ve got to respect your opponents. Without an opponent there’s no game. We can talk about them, and go on about their success, but our focus this week is to prepare well and focus on ourselves.”
Hartley says that with confidence restored the Saints will be a much more difficult proposition for Saracens. “We know that if we turn up we are a good game for anyone. We’ve got some great players in our squad, it’s just pulling all that together and putting it out there.”
It also means Hartley turning words into action and leading by example from the front. It is why Jones picked him as England captain, and why George will want to upstage him. Expect there to be plenty of squash – but it’s very unlikely to be cordial.