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'He's pretty philosophical about it. He's old now'

Dylan Hartley. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Dylan Hartley will be given every opportunity to prove he is ready to make his comeback against Exeter on Saturday but Northampton will not gamble on his fitness with the World Cup looming.

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Hartley has been out since December because of a knee problem and his involvement in the Gallagher Premiership play-off at Sandy Park is far from certain despite recent medical bulletins stating he is on the brink of a return.

The 33-year-old hooker was one of Eddie Jones’ co-captains alongside Owen Farrell until injury struck and will be named in England’s training squad for Japan 2019.

Northampton are mindful of the potential damage caused by a premature return to action and will not take any risks even though they face their biggest match of the season against Exeter.

“As the curve of his recovery has been pretty undulating, there is an element that we don’t want to put him back in when he’s not quite right. We’ll give him until the 11th hour,” Saints assistant coach Phil Dowson said.

“He’s pretty philosophical about it. He’s old now. He’s bright enough, knows his body well enough and he’s played enough rugby to know that if he pushes it now then he misses an obvious opportunity down the track.

“But at the same time he wants to be involved in the first semi-final for quite some time. Dylan has the final say because he knows how he feels.”

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Northampton are facing an all-too familiar crisis at hooker as Mike Haywood is also out with a knee injury, while Reece Marshall is a doubt because of a hamstring injury incurred in last Saturday’s rout by Exeter.

James Fish is an option and Darren Dawidiuk has been brought in on loan from Coventry as emergency cover for the third time this season.

“Dylan trained twice last week and has done bits and pieces this week. It’s about how we manage his recovery,” Dowson said.

“We have to taper it off and then build it up again. It’s whether this game comes too soon for him. What we don’t want to do is play him this week and then he has another long lay-off.

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“We’ve got somebody prepped up to cover it off if we need, but we’re keeping all options open. Dylan and Reece are both experienced enough in how we play to be able to pick up the pieces.”

PA

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TI 2 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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