Hartley rubbishes discipline fears

(GETTY IMAGES)

Fiery Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley insists "discipline is not an issue" as he prepares to make his Test debut for England against the Pacific Islanders on Saturday.

Hartley will start the game on the bench only a fortnight after the Saracens boss Eddie Jones questioned whether he had the temperament for international rugby.

Jones was angered by a high challenge from Hartley on the Saracens and Pacific Islanders captain Mosese Rauluni during Northampton's EDF Energy Cup defeat at Vicarage Road.

Hartley missed out on World Cup selection in 2007 after being slapped with a six-month ban for gouging England team-mate James Haskell and Johnny O'Connor in a club game against Wasps.

The 22-year-old has been working hard on his discipline with a psychiatrist and England manager Martin Johnson recently backed him to cope with the unique strains of Test match rugby

Hartley said: "I don't think discipline is an issue with me. I am a physical player. I am a hooker, in the middle of the forward pack. It is my job.

"The ban for gouging was a big wake-up call. From that to what happened against Saracens - if I had been eight inches lower there would have been no press about it.

"I was just a bit too enthusiastic and I caught him high. I don't think my discipline is an issue."

Lee Mears was preferred to Hartley to start against the Islanders but the New Zealand-born hooker has been on England's radar for the last five years.

Born in Rotorua to an English mother and Kiwi father, Hartley came to England on a gap year to Beacon Community College in Crowborough.

Within that time, Hartley won a call-up to the England Under-18s and opted to remain in the land of his mother.

Since then he has been tracked closely by England, with World Cup-winning hooker Dorian West acting as a mentor even before he joined Northampton as coach.

Hartley toured New Zealand with the senior squad in the summer but did not feature in either Test - a frustrating experience but also one he is determined to learn from.

"There will be a great sense of achievement if I run out to win my first cap at Twickenham," said Hartley.

"Hopefully I can come off the bench and make an impact."

"Going on the summer tour was really good for me given where I had come from, playing in Division One.

"It was disappointing not to play but it just made me hungry to push on and get that cap."

Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio loves the mongrel in Hartley's character but recognises something of himself and Johnson in his youthful exuberance.

"Every young player needs to watch his discipline. I am sure a young Martin Johnson needed to look at his discipline. A young Lawrence did as well," said Dallaglio.

"He is a good player. You don't want to take that aspect out of his game but it has to be controlled and measured.

"He has not been told anything new. It is a question of whether he addresses it or not.

"It is not great to make a habit of appearing in front of the citing commissioner every season."