Lion George hunts down rival Hartley
Saracen says summer success ‘set standard’
JAMIE GEORGE has Dylan Hartley lined up for a taste of Lion power as European club rugby kicks off with an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two rivals for the England No2 shirt.
The England captain will be in George’s sights as the Test hooker in New Zealand this summer attempts to state his case for promotion in front of Eddie Jones for Champions Cup holders Saracens at Northampton on Sunday.
If George did not think so beforehand, his lead role in the epic drawn Lions series has convinced him he has served his England apprenticeship and is ready to usurp Hartley. This is their first meeting since.
“I took a huge amount of experience from that tour and feel like I have developed as a player hugely on the back of it. It has given me an increased confidence but at the same time a bigger expectation of myself,” said George.
“My performance in the second Test was one that I was particularly proud of, so that is where I set the standard now. The bar has been set there and all my performances are based on that.
“I was most pleased about my physicality. I realise where I need to be. That’s the benchmark. I want to keep striving to get beyond that. I’m aware where I need to be emotionally and physically on Sunday in order to be at my best.” Both protagonists need to set the gauge just right. Two years ago when the sides met in a Premiership semi-final, Hartley was sent off for head-butting George – an offence which cost him his place in England’s World Cup squad.
The frustration burning inside George must be intense. He turns 27 next week without having started a game for his country. No one has played more than his 17 games as a substitute for an international team without being given a start.
Jones, below, has intimated that Hartley will remain his captain for next month’s Tests having led England to a series win in Argentina after being overlooked for the Lions tour, but George continues to put him under pressure. After a hat-trick last weekend in the Premiership against Wasps, he is unsure quite what else he has to do.
“It’s a tough one. I don’t know the answer because obviously if I did, I would be doing it,” said George. “The messages from the England coaches are that I have to improve in certain areas. I can’t have periods of games where I’m in and out.
“Consistency is a huge thing for me but, on top of that, having impacts in games – making sure that I’m getting the ball in my hands a lot and also making dents with my physicality, in defence and attack.
“I’ve never wanted to be second choice but it’s the way that it has fallen. I’ve learned a lot from my experience here at Saracens, when I was third choice behind John Smit and Schalk Brits. I learned the value of patience. When you’re not playing, it’s such an important time for you to improve.”
Jones’s reluctance stems from the leadership Hartley gives England. Yet George believed this was the area where he came on the most with the Lions. He found his voice in New Zealand.
“I do feel that, and I feel my relationship with the coaches has got better off the back of it. I feel a lot more confident in this environment and the England environment,” he said.
“I feel good when I am talking and expressing an opinion, within reason. I feel I am engaged more in the game and I feel it brings the best out of me as a player.”
For George and Saracens this Champions Cup campaign is an opportunity to make history by becoming only the second side after Toulon to win a hat-trick of titles.
“Everyone knows that it is European week and everyone knows the importance of it. There is a different atmosphere around the training ground,” said George.
“We are defending champions and we want to get this campaign off to a flying start.”
European rugby at its pointy end can look painfully like an AngloFrench game of push and shove. Not since 2012 has the two countries’ duopoly on finalists been broken.
Leinster have a chance of breaking in but when it comes to the crunch it is likely to be Le Crunch, in one form or another, again.
The pan-European element comes in the venue for the final, with Bilbao’s 53,000 capacity San Mames Stadium hosting the climax on May 12. More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the first final to be held in Spain.