Dylan Hartley knows England must start afresh against New Zealand

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/nov/02/dylan-hartley-england-new-zealand-autumn-tests

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If England need a motivational message this autumn, they could do worse than borrow from the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, born in Swansea 100 years ago last week. “Do not go gentle into that good night,” is essentially what Stuart Lancaster will tell his players before New Zealand’s visit to Twickenham, unless they prefer to follow the more prosaic instructions of Dylan Hartley. “It is getting down to crunch time now,” murmurs England’s straight-talking, Kiwi-reared hooker. “It’s time to perform.”

Both Dylans have it right. The next time the All Blacks, the Springboks and the Wallabies play at Twickenham, the 2015 Rugby World Cup will be in full swing. There will be no scope for experimentation, no safety net for ambition. Which, of course, lends this month’s games additional significance. Get it right now and it will be visiting teams who approach the old cabbage patch with trepidation next year. Get it wrong and the pre-tournament psychology will be appreciably different.

Hartley and England already know what an underlying sense of inferiority feels like. They may have run the All Blacks close in the first two Tests in New Zealand in June but, in the third, they were hammered 36-13 in Hamilton. “I just want to forget that game and I am sure a load of the lads do,” admits Hartley, who endured one of his least effective Tests in recent memory. “There are loads of things you can say: it was the last Test of the tour, the series had gone, it was the end of a long season with 50 players on tour and with a lot of people to manage.”

Mitigating factors will be few, though, if the All Blacks romp to another slick, convincing victory this weekend. It will simply reinforce the perception that England are not yet where they want to be. Beating New Zealand in this fixture two years ago was all very well but even that particularly vivid memory needs updating. “Ultimately we performed really well in the first two games in June and there is no reason why we can’t do that this week,” says Hartley, England’s third most-capped hooker behind Steve Thompson and Brian Moore. “In those first two games we came within a whisker of getting a result. That is what sticks out in my mind: knowing we can compete with the world number ones and give them a good game.”

Hartley also suggests the All Blacks – despite their free-running efforts in Chicago – might be the wobblier team this time with the end of a long year in sight. “It is the other way around now. They have been together for two months so they’ll be a well-oiled machine but they are not invincible.” While New Zealand deservedly won this year’s Rugby Championship title, South Africa have beaten them and Australia fell only just short of doing likewise. “People have run them close, just like we did,” says Hartley. “The fact we played them three times in the summer and we get another shot at them now is pretty nice. Every time I play at Twickenham the atmosphere gets better and better. Come World Cup time it is going to be 10 times what it is now…it is going to be crazy.”

Born and raised in Rotorua, the 28-year-old Hartley also knows how the locals perceive Lancaster’s England. Following the tour he went back ‘home’ to the family smallholding – “I went to see Fluke the dog, Meg the dog and Mrs Brown the cow” – and was recognised on the streets for the first time since he left for England in 2002.

“Whenever I have been back before no one knows who I am. This time was different. I am not used to getting recognised but people kept on coming up and saying: ‘Your team is really good, Jeez you pushed us close’ and ‘You guys are going to be a real threat come World Cup time.’ For the Kiwi public to appreciate these things was nice to hear. We left that country with our heads held high if we forget that last game.”

England’s next goal is to reinforce e point that next year’s World Cup is wide open. Injuries in the front five have not helped, but, concedes Hartley, that no longer stacks up as an excuse. “Come World Cup time we could be in this position again with four or five major injuries. You need depth and you need people to have played in these games now and be able to fill in if needed.”

England should also possess enough collective fresh legs at this stage of the season to cope with the odd setback as they seek to hoist themselves to another level. “Performance is key,” says Hartley. “This autumn series is going to be a step up and you can gather momentum from that. It would be nice to win all four but as long as we are playing well, hopefully results will come.” Whatever happens, England’s forwards will not be going anywhere gently.