'It was a pretty long walk of shame': Dylan Hartley revisits his infamous 2013 Premiership final red card
With the countdown now officially on towards this Saturday’s Exeter vs Wasps Gallagher Premiership final, Dylan Hartley has revisited his nightmare experience of the English league showpiece, getting sent off in 2013 for allegedly swearing at referee Wayne Barnes while playing for Northampton.
The green light was given on Wednesday for the 2020 Exeter-Wasps decider after the Coventry-based club came through the latest round of coronavirus testing unscathed, and the impending match-up has had former England and Northampton skipper Hartley reflecting on what happened to him seven years ago in the showpiece.
Not only did his moment of madness end his final against Leicester, who went on to win, but the subsequent ban also cost Hartley his place on the 2013 Lions tour to Australia. While that tour damage was irreparable, the hooker failing to get selected for the 2017 tour to New Zealand, Hartley came back in 2014 to win the Premiership title with Northampton.
Memories of the red card linger, however, Hartley even admitting on the latest episode of the RugbyPass Offload show that he would have been confident of contesting the sending-off at the disciplinary hearing but felt it was best for the game that he took the eleven-week ban and got on with life.
“When he [Barnes] sent me off it was a moment of disbelief actually,” said Hartley on the show to co-star Simon Zebo and host Christina Mahon. “I couldn’t believe what was happening. It almost went like slow motion, like the whole world was ending.
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“Yellow cards are alright because you just jog off and know you’re going to come back on hopefully, so the quicker you actually get off for a yellow card, the time starts so you get off the field sharp. But red cards, it’s the slowest walk of your life. I knew the impact that that had. It was Northampton’s first-ever final in the Premiership, it was against our rivals Leicester. That season had been perfect for us, we were flying.
“I let down not only the team but the town and then personally I’d been to the Lions camp the week before and would have done the messy Monday but it was a Sunday, had all that kit, even the squad photo and then they photoshopped Rory Best’s head.
“I wasn’t even thinking about that. It was just pure disbelief if I’m honest. It was a pretty long walk of shame. I went straight to the changing rooms and had a moment with myself… I thought the easy thing to do here is to sit in. I felt like getting a taxi home, out the fire escape kind of thing.
“But I thought the right thing was to front up, sit on the bench full well knowing I’m going to have every camera poked in my face, all the photographers were there, and then at the end of the game I could have easily shied away from not getting a losers’ medal and confronting my teammates but I thought I have got to front up here.
“It was difficult but I did the right thing. I did the wrong thing to get sent off but I did the right thing in my mind as a teammate and as a bloke to front up and get on with it. It wasn’t easy.
“There is a piece in the book as well that there was an avenue to challenge the decision but being the grubby kid that I was it wasn’t the situation to do it in. The Lions tour had already started, I wasn’t really going to catch up on that tour. I rang Warren Gatland and said just crack on without me. I was going to take what was given.
“You have got to remember, me challenging the ref, the ref’s employed by the RFU, disciplinary is the RFU. There was actually a moment there where Wayne Barnes said he saw me call him a f***in’ cheat.
“If you freeze-frame when the words are muttered – I did say those words but not aimed at him – he is actually looking the other way. If it went to Crown Court, if this was like an actual serious case in the court of law, I could have got that thrown in the bin but I just thought it’s too big a story.
“I’d played a lot of rugby that season and if anything whenever I got suspended I saw it as like a sabbatical and a chance to rest my body. I went to Los Angeles and had a nice holiday. I watched the Lions tour and I enjoyed all that.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
34 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
34 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments