"We can't change a whole lot in four days" - Hartley speaks to RugbyPass
England captain Dylan Hartley is back in the England side to face Ireland in their final Natwest 6 Nations at Twickenham on Saturday.
He missed the France game due to a calf injury.
“I was close, so it was frustrating to miss out and frustrating to watch the game as well. You never want to be out of the team.”
England slumped to second defeat of the Championship and a third loss would represent their worst performance in the tournament since 2006.
“I believe in the group here, I believe in what we are doing, I believe in where we are going. Just because we’ve lost two games doesn’t make us a bad team. Look, in any success story there is bumps along the way. At the moment we’ve experienced a couple of bumps – it’s how we come out the other side of it and keep on working.”
“The hardest lessons to learn are usually off the back of losses. They are great learning experiences and I think for the team I think it has been a good experience for us. You cannot recreate those without losing big games.”
“The train is not off the tracks, it is just a small bump in the journey of where we are going and as long as we learn lessons from it and remember how this feels and do everything we can to not let these same things happen again, it is only a good thing for us.”
“I think as an experience as a group it has been a bloody good for us, not one I would like to see repeated too often, but I do think it will be a worthwhile tool for us going forward.”
“We’re not a bad team, we’re still a bloody good team and the best way we can prove this is to win this weekend.”
Standing in their way is an Ireland team chasing just their third ever Grand Slam.
“They’re a good team and that’s why they’ve won the tournament, deserving winners and on a rich vein of form as well. So they’ve got a well, well executed game plan that they play and I think just for us it is a great challenge.”
“The tournament for us has been been disappointing and it is a great challenge for us to finish the tournament on a high to play the champions and go for a result there.”
England’s struggles at the breakdown have been highlighted throughout the Six Nations, particularly against France. Hartley admits it’s an area that the team have worked on this week.
“Technically-wise and fitness-wise we can’t change a whole lot in four days, but what we can do is highlight certain areas that we think and going to try and change mindsets around that sort of area of the game.”
“There is more rucks in the game now, I think there has been an increase of 20 per cent more rucks, so naturally there is going to be more contests at the breakdown and more turnovers at the breakdown. So I think just highlighting just a few key points in the last four days has been really important for us.”
“You’ve got to play heads up, you’ve got to send appropriate numbers. There is no point saying we are going to send three people to this ruck when it is not needed. We encourage the guys to play with their heads up, make the right decisions, back decisions – even if they’re not the right ones, make them good decisions. No it is not something that we’ve put down in black and white what we are going to do, just encouraging the guys to make good decisions.”
Hartley’s position in the team has been questioned in some quarters, with the British and Irish Lions starting hooker Jamie George pushing for the number two jersey, but the Northampton man is not bothered by outside chatter.
“If opinion, publicists and writers and column-fillers had their way I’d probably have retired a long time ago, but I am not even quietly motivated, I am openly motivated to keep pushing on, to keep getting better, to keep playing and that’s all I do.”
“(playing) for England – the ultimate goal is the Rugby World Cup yeah – but for my career I don’t know, keep going. I feel bloody good at the moment, I trained well yesterday, so I just have to play well this week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically. I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
25 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
4 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
4 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to comments