Hartley uses former All Black as 'role model' on return to game
Dylan Hartley's concussion against Ireland in the Six Nations on last March ended his season prematurely, forcing him to miss England's summer tour to South Africa.
But after a five-month absence, he returned to play for his club side Northampton, and he's revealed that two-time World Cup winning All Black Ben Franks has provided inspiration to him.
“I’ve got a new mate, Ben Franks and he is 34. He trains better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He finds time in his day to do extras, like extra weight sessions. He does his own warm-up sessions, he carries round his own lunch box and brings in his own food. When he started playing, he didn’t get food, so he had to bring his own and he’s always done that.” Hartley told the England Rugby website.
“I asked him why and he told me he’s scared that if he stops doing the work that his body will shut down, so he works incredibly hard to maintain his ability to play. I see someone like him as a great role model even though he is only a couple of years older than me.”
Continue reading below...
Watch: Dylan Hartley speaks to RugbyPass
Many pundits have written off Hartley with Jamie George pushing for the number 2 shirt. But speaking in March before the Ireland game Hartley told RugbyPass his intention was to stick around.
“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".
However, a concussion-enforced break followed, but Hartley is undeterred and remains determined as ever with the World Cup in his sights.
"The only constructive thing I can do is come back and influence the team in a good way and that’s by being a good pro on and off the field, focusing on my game and trying to be the best at what I do," he said.
“It [a year to go] adds to the sense of excitement, everything we’ve been working towards is drawing closer.
“There are a lot of big games between now and that first World Cup game but we’ve had a long-term vision of that World Cup and with a year to go you want to be in the mix.”
You may also like: What is the best pack that England can pick?
Latest Comments
Finau is definitely operating on razor thin margins. He hasn’t done anything wrong… yet. But a player going into contact 6 inches lower than he is expecting, without him even knowing, will end in disaster. You can imagine a situation where the pass dies on Edmed and he has to bend down a little lower to catch it at the last second. Finau’s hit would have been catastrophic. The margins are just too fine. He needs to study how PSDT, at 6’7”, manages to drop his tackle height and exert just as much force with close zero danger of taking someone’s head off. Given how poorly NZ has adapted to lower their tackle height, and that this issue which has plagued the ABs for years and played a big part in them not winning the World Cup, I thought NZR and all SR coaches would be prioritising sorting this issue out. If I was Razor I would be on the phone to Clayton MacMillan and Samipeni Finau saying exactly that. Finau is a monster and shaping up to be the closest thing to Kaino since Kaino, but I wouldn’t risk selecting him for the ABs at the moment.
Go to commentsThe surprising stat I saw in the Blues game when showing Sotutu equaling the Blues forwards record was that Akira has not scored a try since 2019. Now my memory is pretty bad when it comes to those sorts of the things, I can remember his AB try though, but anyway I can’t see I can remember his last blues touchdown or any in recent years. Surely that still has to be a bogus stat. Maybe excludes SRA games?
Go to comments