Dylan Hartley will miss out on this year’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. The Northampton Saints captain was sent off yesterday during the Aviva Premiership Final against Leicester Tigers at Twickenham.
Hartley received a red card for what had been though to have been the use of abusive language towards referee Wayne Barnes. It was widely expected that there would be repercussions for Hartley in terms of his place in this year’s British and Irish Lions Tour. We here at rugby-talk though that he would be suspended for at least a 6 or 8 week period.
There was some uncertainty initially regarding the timing of Hartley’s discplinary hearing with the speculation being that it would take place on Tuesday or Wednesday this week. This would lead to Hartley at the very least missing out on departing along with fellow British and Irish Lions team mates with the Lions flying out to Hong Kong on Monday.
The RFU (Rugby Football Union) have clearly felt it important to deal with the matter swiftly and shown that Hartley’s behaviour was unacceptable in no uncertain terms with the ban they have issued.
The specualtaion in the immediate aftermath of Hartley being sent of yesterday was the Ireland’s hooker Rory Best would be the first in line to replace Hartley should he be ruled out from the tour.
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The Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced the ban after finding the Northampton captain swore at referee Wayne Barnes and called him a “cheat”.
Hartley, who pleaded not guilty, has the right of appeal.
An RFU statement said: “At the hearing Dylan Hartley pleaded not guilty but the panel found him guilty and determined that this was mid-range on the scale of seriousness.
“The entry point for mid-range is a suspension of 12 weeks and that was reduced by one week to reflect his good conduct at the hearing.”
Hartley, 27, claims he was talking to Tigers hooker Tom Youngs and not referee Barnes.
Hartley had already been warned by Barnes for speaking out of turn, before the dismissal late in the first half of Leicester’s 37-17 win at Twickenham.
Northampton coach Jim Mallinder said Hartley’s claim was backed up by a number of other senior players.
“I asked Dylan at half-time and I’ve just asked him again ‘what happened? What did you say?’ He said he was talking to Tom Youngs,” said Mallinder.
“If you talk like that to a player I wouldn’t expect anything to happen. Clearly, Wayne Barnes has believed Dylan has spoken to him.
“I support Dylan. He is my captain. If he says he wasn’t speaking to the referee and he was speaking to a player on the floor I can only support what he says.”
Hartley could have could have become England captain in 2012 but missed out after being given an eight-week ban for biting Ireland’s Stephen Ferris.
He was also given a two-week ban in December 2012 for striking Best.
Those incidents followed a 26-week ban in 2007 for “making illegal contact with the eye area” of Wasps players Johnny O’Connor and James Haskell. That ban ended his chances of making England’s squad for the that year’s World Cup.
The Lions tour starts on 1 June and Hartley is banned until 1 September.
A Lions statement said: “The British and Irish Lions have been informed of the sanction imposed on Dylan Hartley by an RFU disciplinary panel.
“Warren Gatland and his fellow coaches will now consider all their options before making any further announcement.”
One has to applaud the RFU for convening this hearing so soon after the event.
Hartley will no doubt appeal the decision as he maintains he was ‘speaking’ to the Leicester hooker and not Barnes, apparently in frustration after he thought Leicester got away with illegal tactics in the scrum.
Interesting reading comments in reaction to this on bbc from both sides of the fence, ‘Moskiman’ wrote : “The stupidity of Hartley beggars belief, when he’d been specifically warned about his backchat just minutes before. I was listening on 5 Live and you could clearly heard the ref during the previous incident – “if I hear that again and it’s directed at me we’ll have a problem” Apologies as I may have paraphrased it, but Hartley should have been under no illusions his behaviour was under scrutiny…”
and ‘robert’ wrote: “Anyone interested to know what actually happened ? I was at the match yesterday and I had paid a fiver for a Ref Link. Following the penalty for collapsing the scrum, again, Hartley was close enough to Wayne Barnes that I could hear Hartley say “I’ve had enough of this f****g s**t.” He was then red-carded. Hartley was irritated that Leicester had engaged early, again.
Is Barnes not one of the most irritating refs around?
4 @ superBul: Yes, but not more irritating than Bryce. Thank goodness that he is gone,
@ Loosehead:
Ek dink nie ons moet ooit soveel dinge toelaat soos Sokker nie maar ek sal like as die refs ophou om mekaar te beskerm tot die dood toe. Hulle kan nie hulself bestuur nie , dit is duidelik. Hulle het n buite komitee nodig wat objektief die game evalueer.
Om Graham Henry se geval as voorbeeld te vat. Hy het 40 jaar afgerig, het duisende refs sien blaas, waar kan hy heen gaan om te kla. Hulle(die Refs) sal verseker alles onder die tafel invee. Maar deur dit oop te gooi in die pers het hulle notisie geneem. Maar gaan hulle iets daar aan doen. You Wish
Ek was gelukkig nie Saterdag by my PC nie maar as ek so deur die kommentaar kyk van R-T bloggers op die Sharks/Bulls thread sou ek dalk ook n ban van 12 weke gekry het.
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