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.