Hartley’s Cup hopes hanging by thread
Dylan Hartley’s participation in the World Cup is in doubt after the Northampton hooker was cited for an alleged head-butt on his opposite, Jamie George, in Sunday’s Aviva Premiership defeat by Saracens at Franklin’s Gardens.
The Saints captain will face a disciplinary hearing and, if found guilty, faces not only a ban from England’s three World Cup warm-up matches in August and September, as well as the opening game of the tournament against Fiji on September 18, but, perhaps more significantly, a sanction from Stuart Lancaster, the England head coach, who has warned the combustible player before about the need for improvement in his on-field behaviour.
The minimum suspension for striking an opponent with the head is four weeks, rising to a maximum of four months. However, mitigation in the form of a guilty plea or provocation can lead to a 50 per cent reduction in sentence. Hartley, though, is a serial offender and his track record will count against him; he has already missed almost a year of rugby through suspensions dating back to 2007.
Any ban has to be “meaningful” in that it has to take into account serious matches and not just a period of training. England go into their World Cup camp on June 22 and will remain together more or less until their warm-up programme starts in earnest with home and away matches against France, beginning at Twickenham on August 15. The reverse fixture is in Paris the following week, after which the final 31-man squad will be named. England then play Ireland at Twickenham on September 5.
A fortnight ago Lancaster ruled Manu Tuilagi out of his World Cup plans after the Leicester centre was convicted of assaulting two female police officers and a taxi driver — the latest in a string of misdemeanours.
Hartley himself seemed to recognise that very point at the start of the 2013 season, when he came back from the 11-week suspension that had ruled him out of the Lions’ tour to Australia after he was found guilty of verbal abuse directed towards ref- eree Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final against Leicester, the day before he was due to join up with the Lions.
“I understand he [Lancaster] can’t keep giving me a chance,” Hartley said in August 2013, insisting that his torrent of foul language had been directed at no one in particular and was a general rant about the opposition. “People cannot keep giving me a chance and I am basically on my last chance in that set-up. That is fully understood. My approach to dealing with refs has probably got to change.”
Hartley, though, found himself in trouble against the same opposition last December when he was sent off for elbowing Matt Smith. He received a three-week ban and returned to take his place in England’s Six Nations squad, starting every match ahead of Tom Youngs. Lancaster gave him a reprieve.
“I’ll be making it crystal clear to Dylan one-to-one that discipline has to be top-notch,” Lancaster said at the time. “He will have been disappointed in himself to put himself in that position.”
Hartley will be hard pushed to make a case on grounds of provocation. The incident happened just after Northampton had gone over the tryline from a lineout in the 58th minute. As the try was awarded, the throng of players broke up, with Hartley coming back from the front of the driving maul and heading towards his own half. George appeared to be minding his own business, having been left to one side as the maul gathered momentum. Hartley, though, can be seen not only bumping his chest into George but also making contact with his head, seemingly without cause.
Referee Greg Garner had his attention drawn to the coming together by Alastair Hargreaves, the Saracens captain. Garner asked the television match official to replay the incident but it proved to be inconclusive and no action was taken.
One of the ironies is that the beneficiary of any action taken by Lancaster against Hartley could be George, the 24-year-old who has been one of the standout performers of the season and could be Hartley’s replacement in the Word Cup squad.
“Jamie has been the most consistent hooker in the Premiership,” said Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby.