Saints skipper sets sights on slaying ‘dragons’

DYLAN HARTLEY doesn’t seem like the sort of man who read fairytales as a child, yet listening to him talk about Munster and their record at Thomond Park you can’t help but think of him and his Northampton Saints team-mates as St George, being sent in to the wilderness to slay the dragon.

The England hooker laughingly talks about the stories he has been told of the men in red growing ten-feet tall when they pull on the team shirt, with fire coming out of their noses as they ensure the opposition are beaten almost before the game has started.

Yet it is reality that Hartley’s side will have to deal with tonight as they search for the victory that will guarantee their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. In fact, the equation could not be simpler for Jim Mallinder’s men – win, and they go through, lose and they will be forced to settle for a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Yet that basic formula reckons without Munster’s record at Thomond Park – one defeat in 36 Heineken Cup games, stretching back 15 years. And the Saints skipper knows now is the time for his side to show that October’s 31-27 victory over the 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup champions was no fluke in a game that he believes will be as intense as any Test match.

“I’ve heard that when their players put on that Munster shirt they grow to ten feet tall and breathe fire out of their noses,” laughs the 23-year-old. “Playing them at Thomond Park will be a great occasion, there was a real buzz when we played them here and it should be special.

“But we know what sort of performance we can put in and I genuinely believe we can turn them over. Maybe a few people have written us off because we are going to Munster and they have that record there.

“But I look at my team this season and I don’t think a single player has gone missing, so what better test for us than Munster away? The occasion will take care of itself, and if you can’t get yourself up physically and mentally for this game then there is something wrong with you.”

And after spending time with the Saints’ players and management at Franklin’s Gardens this week, you realise this isn’t a case of Hartley simply saying the right thing. Mallinder has forged a young, vibrant side that showed their class during the game against tonight’s opponents when they first met back in October.

It was, says Hartley, a special night, and there is the added incentive that he and fellow England squad members Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Courtney Lawes could well secure their place in Martin Johnson’s side for Six Nations with Wales a week tomorrow if they can dominate against Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara, Keith Earls and the rest.

“That game at Franklin’s Gardens was the highlight of this season, definitely,” he adds. “Munster will have the mindset that they owe us for the performance we put in here against them when we got one over on them.

“You look at their pack and it’s star-studded, full of internationals that have played together for a very long time, but then so have we. We’re mobile, fit and work for each other, and we’re on a roll at the moment as well.

“And I don’t care if we go out there and win 3-0, as long as we win. Regardless of the scoreline and who wins, I know we will put in a performance we will be proud of and we won’t roll over for them.

“This is as close as it gets to Test rugby. In terms of the physicality and tempo it will be the same as, if not more intense than Test matches.

“The England coaches do use these games for their final selection for the Six Nations. And at Northampton we know we are contenders for the Guinness Premiership. We want to be contenders for the Heineken Cup, and what better way of showing that than going and winning at Munster.”