Hartley’s Lions hopes ‘were stifled by Saints’

Dylan Hartley‘s failure to win a Lions call had its roots in Northampton‘s restricted game plan, according to former England and Saints hooker Andy Long.
Long claims Hartley is not the ball-carrying threat he once was and that Jamie George’s superior running and offloading game caught Warren Gatland‘s eye.
George can now seize the Lions’ No.2 jersey ahead of Rory Best and Ken Owens according to Long, who told The Rugby Paper: “Jamie was always going on the Lions tour because he offers something different off the bench, but he could end up starting.
“He will have a great tour because he’s got that innocence to just go out and play.
“Jamie can do all the nuts and bolts at scrum and lineout and is a great defender, but he also likes the ball in the wide channels and has the ability to pop up in different places as a dangerous ball-carrier who passes and offloads very well.”
Long added: “Jamie plays his natural game even when the pressure’s at its most intense and I saw all that in Dylan as well when he first started; he had those offloading skills but that side of his game has gone away a bit.
“That’s maybe down to Northampton’s structures and the way they’ve been playing – it’s suffocated his game and he’s now renowned as a tight hooker. It came down to Dylan or Rory Best as that type of player and Dylan, right, missed out.
“Dylan’s got so much more running and offloading to his game, but how often do you see him doing it for Northampton?
“That’s what Jamie does and he’s learnt so much off Schalk Brits at Saracens which has got him on this tour.”
Long, rugby director of newly-crowned National Two South champions Bishop’s Stortford who also mentors Worcester‘s hookers, believes English hooking stocks are healthy.
And he backs 20-year-old Warriors protégé Jack Singleton to make a splash, saying: “England are in a really strong position with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tommy Taylor coming through and Jack Singleton’s had a great Premiership debut season.
“He’s a great kid who has a big future and I’ve loved seeing him develop.”
Bishop’s Stortford, who Long joined in 2012, will compete in National One next season after he helped preside over a second promotion in four years.
“It’s been a great coaching journey and we’re really proud of what the lads have achieved,” he said.
“It’ll be a big jump to National One but we won’t be making massive changes to our personnel.
“If you look at Premier League football and sides who come up and stay there, teams like Bournemouth and Burnley show the way. They keep players but just do things a bit better and faster, so that’s what we’ll try to do.”
Stortford will also look to cement dual-registration ties with Saracens, with Long adding: “We’ve had Billy Walker and Dom Morris and their lads have a great attitude, so we’ll speak to Saracens about who they might be able to drop in.”
NEALE HARVEY