Eddie’s got us really fit for purpose
Let’s get out of this mess
better rounded to play rugby now,” said Hartley. “And as we have got fitter we have moved the goalposts to keep on getting better.”
The Northampton hooker will win his 92nd cap against Scotland, overtaking Jonny Wilkinson to become England’s second mostcapped player behind Jason Leonard, who has 114, driven late in his career by Jones’s mantra of continual improvement.
“Maybe whenever I finish I’ll look back on that and say, ‘Yeah, that’s good’, but the main thing is the team wins this weekend,” said Hartley.
“This environment teaches you not to relax and think you’re there. It’s one thing I’ll never do now. Maybe I did it previously but Eddie has made me realise what I need to do and he’s made it very clear that if I don’t hit targets and be seen to be getting better, I won’t be here.
“There has been a bit of guidance from Eddie, a bit of mentoring, a bit of old-school ‘this is how it is, shape up otherwise you aren’t going to be a part of it’, and then CAPTAIN Guilhem Guirado says France only have themselves to blame for the mess they find themselves in ahead of tonight’s clash with Italy.
The French head into the Marseilles meeting disrupted by the wholesale disciplinary changes which followed an unsanctioned night out in Edinburgh a fortnight ago after losing to Scotland – their eighth successive game without a win. If that run is there’s obviously the application from myself to actually realise the opportunity I’ve got to be a part of this team and get my head down and work hard.”
Against the Scots, Hartley will lead a side showing only one change to the starting line-up, with Nathan Hughes returning at No8 in place of Sam Simmonds, who could miss the rest of the championship with the shoulder injury he sustained against Wales a fortnight ago.
“Nathan was one of those players that played well when the game was going for him; now he’s a tough player, he is prepared to grind it out,” said Jones. “He’s a deep carrier, he’s a strong defender and has a bit more muscle around the ruck, which at Murrayfield might be useful.”
Jones’s assessment is that unlike at Twickenham last year, when England romped to a 61-21 victory, tomorrow’s match will follow the Murrayfield pattern of an arm wrestle decided in the last quarter. If that proves to be the case, the fitness revamp should pay rich dividends.
ENGLAND: Replacements:
extended to nine against the championship makeweights it would be a national embarrassment.
“It hurts because I’ve always known a triumphant French team,” said Guirado, above. “Excuse my language but we’ve put ourselves in the **** a bit; now we’ll try to get out of it together.”