Northampton Saints: Hartley is raring to go
Dylan Hartley is ready to make up for one of the most frustrating summers of his rugby career to date.
The hooker was forced to miss out on England's tour of Australia and New Zealand after sustaining a knee injury during Saints' Premiership semi-final defeat to Saracens in May.
To add to the agony of domestic defeat, he then watched on as Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, Shane Geraghty and Courtney Lawes boarded the plane Down Under.
England went on to draw their two-match Test series against Australia 1-1, with Foden, Ashton and Lawes all starring in a thrilling 21-20 second Test victory in Sydney.
Hartley was forced to endure constant texts from his pals telling him of their antics on the tour, from beating the old enemy
Australia, to going out on the town in their free time.
They say that what goes on on tour stays on tour, but unfortunately for Hartley he was more than aware of what was happening, whether he wanted to be or not.
And to make things worse, he saw Jon Clarke, Stephen Myler and Lee Dickson enjoying themselves out in America in the Churchill Cup with the England Saxons.
All of that made for an irksome few months for the Saints captain who was bursting at the seams to get back in the groove.
But he feels his spell on the sidelines will provide rich reward during the next year as he goes in search of glory with club and country.
Hartley, who made his England debut against the Pacific Islanders back in 2008, said: "It was a frustrating summer.
"I needed my knee doing so I had to be quite mature and step back from the England side of things and say I can't go on tour because I need my knee done.
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"If I didn't do that I'd break down four months down the track and with bigger things at the World Cup on the horizon and another big season Premiership I need to be fit.
"There is two sides of it. There was one where I take a step back do my knee, get ready for the new season but there was the side where I was talking to some of the lads on the computer and on texts and stuff like that, and they're down in Australia having an amazing time.
"Tours are always fun and to go down to Australia and win as well, it's hard to miss out on that."
The fact that Hartley chose to sacrifice short-term thrills for long-term gain is a clear illustration of the development he has enjoyed during the past few years.
Director of rugby Jim Mallinder has bestowed plenty of responsibility upon the 24-year-old who will skipper Saints for the second season in succession when it all kicks off against Leicester tomorrow.
The leader bleeds green, black and gold and he expects the same sort of attitude from those around him.
He got that last season and he doesn't think it will be any different this time around, despite 11 new summer recruits drifting into Franklin's Gardens.
Hartley said: "What I've seen I've been impressed with.
"We bring people here who fit in with the group. It's not whether you're just good at rugby, you need to fit in here with our culture, so everyone we've brought in here has just been superb.
"Everyone is buying into what Saints are about and what the team's about so I've been impressed with everyone.
"We're a young squad.
"We've lost a few old heads, like Neil Best and Nacho Lobbe, but we've brought in a bucket-load of young talent and we've replaced the older guys with guys like Adam Eustace and Mark Sorenson.
"The balance has always been good here over the last few years."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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