The rocky (and hairy) road to redemption

Dylan Hartley is perhaps the first person to have found redemption in the form of a moustache.

Last summer the England hooker was contemplating where it all went wrong. Sent off in May’s Aviva Premiership final for calling referee Wayne Barnes ‘a fucking cheat’ — a comment he insists was aimed at Leicester counterpart Tom Youngs — Hartley disappeared to Santa Monica as he was handed an 11-week ban that ended his chance of touring with the Lions.

There he stayed with one of the founders of Movember, the charity that raises money for prostate cancer by asking men to grow moustaches through the month of November.

Suitably refreshed, he returned to England and took part in Movember himself, raising over €55,000 through his ‘Front Mo Union’ team, more than all other English clubs combined.

It represented, he said, a sign of growing maturity that came from his latest falling-out with the authorities.

Now, three months on, Hartley has taken what was described by Stuart Lancaster as ‘a last chance’ and is indisputably England’s first-choice No 2 going into this weekend’s crunch clash with Ireland at Twickenham.

Always more intelligent than his critics had given him credit for, Hartley is fully aware of how perilous his particular tale of redemption is and how he will be wound up by those looking for a response from a man whose on-field indiscretions have clouded much of his career to date.

“I always thought that if I got back here I’d enjoy it and almost cherish it because you’re one game away from being on the other side of the headlines,” explains Hartley.

“I’ve been there, so I’m just enjoying it and I don’t mean enjoy it as a jolly. I mean every time I pull on that shirt and being in this environment is special. Because when you’re not in it, are injured or on the bench, not so much the bench, you miss it. I almost went a year not talking to you guys (the media) because I wasn’t the starting hooker. I missed you guys.

“Three games ago I was here on the road to redemption, on a chance from Lanny (Lancaster). I’ll enjoy it while I’m here.”

Suddenly, Hartley has been transformed into the grey beard of this young England team, his 52 caps making him the senior citizen after Toby Flood’s decision to head to France ensured his exile from the England team.

Considering he pondered whether to take a gap year from the sport after his ban, it has been quite a reversal of fortunes. In fact, the Lions omission affected him less than may otherwise have been expected. Hartley decided simply to avoid the entire tour, although he admits he will chat to Rory Best — the man who replaced him in the tour party — after the game this weekend.

“I went on holiday straight away and I couldn’t watch the matches because there was no television,” Hartley said at the time about a subject he now feels is put to bed.

“I kept in touch on social media and spoke to friends who were playing on the tour, but that was about it. During the summer, I went to America and ended up staying with one of the founders of Movember. He and his fiancee were our tour guides in California — they were brilliant people. Everyone thought I was suicidal. It wasn’t like that but I wasn’t over the moon and the way it ties in with Movember is that when I was having a shit period, that guy helped me out. It was a way of saying ‘thank-you’.”

Now he must head back to Twickenham, scene of the crime. He featured in all three Autumn internationals but has only now seen off Young’s challenge. Now his immediate task is ensuring his rugby does the talking.

“We trained there recently and after I had to catch up with someone after training and I sat on the subs’ bench,” laughs Hartley.

“I thought, ‘the last time I was sat here was in the Premiership Final’. I smirked to myself. I was actually on the 22 when I got sent off.

“In terms of England, the Autumn at Twickenham was frustrating because we ended the series on a high but with a loss (against New Zealand).

“This is my chance to put the good feeling back into Twickenham.”