Hunting Lions in Dublin: Dylan Hartley
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England hooker Dylan Hartley is hoping he will be given a chance to go head to head with Rory Best on Sunday in his bid for British and Irish Lions Test selection.
Hartley started England's Six Nations opener against Scotland last week from the bench having recently returned from injury and is pushing for a recall into the run-on XV for this Sunday's clash with Ireland in Dublin.
The Northampton hooker would relish the opportunity to lock horn with Lions favourite Best, but he must first get picked ahead of Tom Youngs, who is emerging as another potential candidate for Warren Gatland's team.
"The Lions is like a big bonus isn't it? It's something to work for," said Hartley.
"We have a big chance with England as well. We'd all love to lift the trophy. That in itself is pretty exciting.
"The Six Nations is your stage to perform. Every week it's your rival (you are up against) - even Tom here with England. I understand that.
"I understand that I've got seven weeks to give myself a good crack at it. I've got my head round that and I'm highly motivated.
"I have played against Rory Best once this year for Northampton against Ulster. He is a key man in their team.
"They have got plenty of class throughout and he is key to their success up front."
England are now the bookmakers' favourites for the Six Nations title but Hartley remembers all to well the defeat on their last trip to Dublin that ended hopes of Grand Slam.
"You can take points from that experience and there are other players in the squad who experienced that. All we can do is share that with the current crop," said the 26-year-old.
"It was the intensity which stood out. I remember the first scrum of the game and we got rolled, they got a big shunt on and the crowd goes wild. I remember my first carry of the game and I got held in the choke tackle, ball turned over.
"If you look at the way they started the game against Wales at the weekend, they put a big emphasis on that. We need to front up emotionally. You need to be right in the head."
Hartley and Best came to blows when they met in that Heineken Cup fixture at Franklin's Gardens, with the England hooker receiving a two week ban after losing his cool. He was also banned for eight weeks following last year's game against Ireland, after being found to have bitten Stephen Ferris on the hand.
Hartley has been spoken to by the England management of his discipline and he is confident he can keep his cool in the Irish capital.
"The last one [ban] was down to frustration, the team not playing well, myself not playing well and not thinking and just reacting," said Hartley.
"It is a thinking process. I feel like I am in control.
"If anyone is (targeting me) it is short-sighted because as soon as you focus your energies on someone else you are not concentrating on yourself."
Comments
Norm says...
Good god that last little line, it is a bit like Bernie Madoff giving advice on financial regulation!
So Dyaln what do you look forward to most? Standing up in every scrum? You have done the biting, the punching? What next?
I hope Lancaster does play you, because you are the most oe dimensional hooker playing at test level today. Nothing in your locker but strength and aggression. No subtlety, no skill and most tellingly no class!
Posted 21:09 06th February 2013
Jhamer25 says...
No chance dylan, he is nowhere near the level of hooker that best is. Rory arguably the best hooker in the world and all dyaln wants to do his cause penalties and foul players.
Dylan is a thug and rory is a true rugby players. Plus he had nothing on youngs at the moment.
Posted 21:05 06th February 2013
Frooschman says...
Bring on the haters! Personally I'd prefer Hartley to Youngs. I think Youngs still has too much to learn about the technical aspects of playing hooker and the international stage is not the place to learn those lessons. Plus I lie a player with some bite. No pun intended. Having said all that Best was awesome last week and I don't think either Youngs or Hartley will get the upper hand!
Posted 20:47 06th February 2013
liam2me says...
Hartley is a waste of space, will be lucky to be on the plane let alone make the team. Best will beast him.
Posted 20:44 06th February 2013
leinster_goy says...
bone-headed english (!) git shooting his mouth off vs. quiet understated ulsterman who does his talking exclusively on the pitch. i don't really care what the result is on sunday but i deffo know which one i want to see in the B&I Lions 2 shirt come june
Posted 20:40 06th February 2013
NHsaints says...
I'm not sure whether I want him to be the lions starter or not - he's a fantastic player when he keeps his cool and his lineouts are much, much, much better than best's or youngs', on the other hand we don't need him out there losing his cool and playing badly or getting sent off...not to mention best is very good in the open field aspects of the game...it's too tough for me to call, if I were Gatland I'd try both before the first Aus test to see which one works better with the rest of the team.
Posted 20:07 06th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Hartley will be second to Best. (see what i did there?) But i am glad they are worried about the choke tackle. Haskell is the wrong player for this game. We need low lumps; T. Youngs must start. He's a great short ball carrier. Cole needs to do some carries and most importantly they need to steer around the forward concentrations when they carry. Off load quickly or go to ground fast. Support runners must come in quick to get the drive on as Ireland try to hold them up. Tuilagi of course is another great carrier for this game. Those forwards will be exhausted trying to choke tackle 13 line of attack. Brown; dont carry in this game. Run into space but not into traffic. Kick before they get you. Very winnnable if England do not do what Wales did.
Posted 19:40 06th February 2013