Dylan Hartley: England need to match All Blacks’ intensity from the off

By Charlie Elliott

Dylan Hartley spent some time around the England camp on Tuesday and offered his thoughts on what he has seen from Steve Borthwick’s side, as well as giving some analysis on the challenges that England might face and what they need to do in order to be successful this Autumn. 

Speaking to Prime Casino about his experience with the side on Tuesday, England’s most capped hooker said: “I’ve been spending time with the boys, and I really enjoyed it. What a privilege, right? I sit there going, how the hell did I do that stuff because these boys are serious athletes. 

“They’re all finely tuned beasts now, whereas I probably gave the common man hope that he could play international sport. 

“The boys were calm and relaxed, but when they went to work, there was a clear understanding of what was expected.

“I remember those environments being so intense, but I think Steve’s probably learned from experience as a player and as a coach that you can’t be on the whole time. 

“Everything is looking good. The drills look good. The session wasn’t perfect, but you don’t want perfection, especially on a Tuesday. You want perfection on Saturday. 

“But the understanding was there, the kind of learnings. What they’re trying to implement against New Zealand this week was clear to see. I obviously can’t give away any trade secrets, but it was great.” 

Hitting their stride early

There have been doubts about whether England will be as ready for the first test, with them having not played an international fixture since the July defeats to New Zealand, but the All Blacks have faced eight opponents since then.

Hartley spoke about how he thought this would affect both teams, saying: “The All Blacks are well oiled.

“They come into this game off the back of a fairly impressive result against Japan. They’re going to be humming, whereas, with England, it’s quite the opposite. 

“This is the start of our season. We’ve had a week together as a team in Italy, and the boys will need to be at 90 -100% from the off – we don’t want to be hitting our stride against Japan in the fourth game.

“The challenge will be matching New Zealand’s level of intensity from minute one. 

“With England, when I look at the athletes and the skill set that they’ve got, they’re certainly good enough to win that game.

“The challenge is to hit 90 to 100 from the first minute and this game will be a great barometer of where we are as a team and a good opportunity to demonstrate that we’ve learned lessons from the summer just gone.” 

Taking it one game at a time

Hartley also spoke about the approach in which he believes will give the most success for the country, and about the risks that come with looking ahead to other fixtures: 

“I don’t think England should be thinking about future games, South Africa and whatnot. Play a full hand against New Zealand.

“Every team has a way of playing, and we need to build an understanding, a philosophy, whatever you want to call it. 

“The approach for New Zealand will be one set of rules with a foundation of an understanding, and then for Australia, they’ll change a few things to expose Australia.

“With South Africa, it will be the same. You’ve got to be creative in your tactical approach on a game-to-game basis. 

Speaking about the future of some of the players who are beginning to break through for England, Hartley had some optimistic words to say regarding them and the general future of English rugby. 

“It’s an opportunity for the likes of Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and Feyi-Waboso to establish themselves,” he said.

“I see it as a real changing of the guard. There are a lot of players here who could form the nucleus of this England team for the next five to eight years, a couple of World Cup cycles. It’s a real opportunity for them.”

The full interview can be viewed at Prime Casino using the following link: https://www.primecasino.co.uk/blog/journal/dylan-hartley-exclusive/