ENGLAND ON THE CUSP OF JOINING THE IMMORTALS
Hartley’s heroes urged to make history
WILL CARLING contacted Dylan Hartley on Thursday to urge his latest successor as England captain to join him in a prestigious club — by leading the national team to consecutive Grand Slams.
It hasn’t happened in the professional era, the last back-to-back English clean sweeps coming in 1991-92. Carling was the skipper who presided over those eight successive wins — in the days before Italy’s addition saw the Five Nations become Six.
‘Will has been texting me, telling me how great he was,’ Hartley joked, amid final preparations for today’s historicshowdown with Ireland. ‘I give him a bit of stick but he was saying good luck, basically!’
Carling had a mighty fine record in his spell as captain but Hartley is surpassing all previous feats in the role.
He has led England 18 times, winning 17, drawing one — in 2012, when deputising for Chris Robshaw in a Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. In the Eddie Jones era, the hooker has been the figurehead in a period of perfection, certainly in terms of results if not always performances, though last week’s annihilation of Scotland came close.
Today, victory will propel them to another Slam and a world-record 19th Test win in a row. Hartley was asked to consider the significance of what can be achieved this evening and he was not always comfortable doing so. Complacency is, according to head coach Jones, ‘always lurking in the shadows’, so tempting fate is not on the English agenda.
Put to the skipper that a Double Slam inevitably leads to enhanced profile and acclaim, he admitted: ‘Of course, but we’re yet to be there. We’ve got a final hurdle this weekend, against a quality side. We are embracing the occasion and excited by it.’
Another pushy question draws a feet-on-the-ground reply: ‘We haven’t done it yet, so let’s slow down.’
In the build-up to this epic RBS 6 Nations finale, Jones urged his players to pursue this once-in-a-lifetime shot at greatness. Again, the terminology slightly jars with Hartley. His priority is to ensure that chasing tangible rewards matters more to England than denying them means to Ireland.
‘Those are the boss’s words,’ he said. ‘We’re ready as a team to make sure our motivation is greater than theirs. People are asking about them stopping us after stopping the All Blacks (in November), but my message to the team this week is that our motivation has to be greater — to kick on and to win the Grand Slam. That motivation, to me, is greater than upsetting another team’s party.’ His other primary message is carpe
diem, not that Hartley will deliver it in Latin. ‘You don’t get these opportunities often in life, especially in a rugby life,’ he said. ‘We need to make the most of them. As a team, we’ve had plenty of setbacks along the way. That goes for individuals, too. James Haskell has been playing since 2007 and what’s he got? Outside of the last year, a Six Nations title a few years ago, but we lost the final game and that’s a dirty feeling to have. Guys are relishing the moment we have now and seizing the opportunity.’
The climax has been partly hijacked by revelations that the RFU are trying to engineer a game for England against the All Blacks in November but the squad are focused on the task at hand. Hartley’s one thought about New Zealand is in relation to his parents in Rotorua. It will be 6am there when today’s match kicks off.
‘That’s a good, sociable hour,’ he said. ‘My dad will be having his bacon and eggs.’
Hartley feels that tactically England are finely honed, so their challenge will be to find the right emotional pitch on a St Patrick’s weekend maelstrom of Irish pride and defiance.
Following their defeat in Cardiff eight days ago, Joe Schmidt’s Ireland will be at fever pitch in their desire to halt England’s juggernaut and end a comedown campaign on a positive note. Andy Farrell, their defensive guru, will be determined to shut out a team which includes his son, Owen, in such a pivotal attacking role. But the loss of Conor Murray and Rob Kearney due to injuries has swung the pendulum England’s way.
The visitors are reinforced by the starting return of Billy Vunipola. The Saracens No 8 will give the champions thunderous momentum, while the absence of Murray and Kearney could critically damage Irish attempts to launch another aerial onslaught.
Schmidt’s men denied the All Blacks a 19th consecutive victory but have not reached those autumn heights of late. England can dominate in the set piece, hold their own at the breakdown, and partially negate the threat posed by Irish No 10 Johnny Sexton.
On the flip side, if George Ford and Farrell are given front-foot ball and pick up where they left off against the Scots, Ireland will do well to contain the visitors in the wider channels.
Last year the glorious peaks were scaled in Paris, Melbourne and Sydney. Hostile territory has brought the best out of England before and it can do so again. Another Slam is there for the taking. Greatness beckons.