"They need to start with a bang" – Dylan Hartley: Former captain wants England to start Autumn Series strong against All Blacks

Today at 10:00 AM

Former England captain Dylan Hartley is excited to see how Steve Borthwick’s side step up, as they take on the All Blacks tomorrow afternoon at the Allianz Stadium. Marking the start of England’s campaign in the Autumn Nations Series, Hartley wants to see a solid performance from his former side, after back-to-back defeats against the All Blacks in the Summer.

England ended their July expedition to Dunedin and Auckland with two losses, yet there was plenty to learn from the trip to New Zealand. Whilst Hartley does not want to label this a ‘revenge match’, the former Northampton Saints hooker believes that England will be looking to take their next step forward in their progression as a squad, by securing the win against the All Blacks at home.

Dylan was speaking on behalf of Prime Casino, and told Ruck: “I think revenge… it’s got negative connotations to it, revenge. I think it’s more of a progression on the timeline of where they’re at as a team. If you think about the timeline that they’ve been on, with Steve Borthwick pre World Cup, they (England) kind of went to the World Cup with zero expectation. They performed really well. And he sort of picked an established squad to get through that, and an experienced squad to get through that following Six Nations.

“Then they had the summer tour in New Zealand. So I think that was a real good marker for them of where they’re at in the sand, to go to New Zealand. I’d love to say (the All Blacks are) the best team in the world, but one of the best teams in the world, and give them a good crack.

“They played some good rugby, but I don’t think they ever looked like (winning). I think it’s just in their timeline and progression as a team that was a fair result for them. Whereas they now know the standard and the level of where they need to be at as a team, and the lesson for them is, is they can’t wait till the fourth game of the series to get on script.

“They need to start with a bang, because New Zealand are well oiled, their battle hardened at the end of their season. They know how to play, they know what’s expected. They know the intensity, they’re conditioned to playing that. I think England’s challenge is to make sure they get to 90 to 100% from minute one at the weekend and not feel their way into the game.”

Coming off the back of the Summer tour, and plenty of the younger England players now have invaluable experience of taking on the All Blacks. The likes of Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South, Manny Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme all gained crucial game-time against New Zealand, with Hartley excited to see how England’s young guns fare in their next battle with Scott Robertson’s side.

Whilst it is essential for a young talent to have their breakthrough campaign in the Premiership and upon the Test match stage, Hartley hopes that none of the exciting England youngsters take a backwards step in their second season within Borthwick’s squad.

“I’m excited to see, he’s like a fridge freezer, George Martin. And Manny Feyi-Waboso again, and Tommy Freeman, I think he’s poised to just go again after the Premiership season for Northampton. Fantastic, to go on tour and score a try against the All Blacks.

“But now it’s like that ‘second season syndrome’. In international rugby, you’ve established yourself as a proper player, because we all know you can play, but can you do it, repeatedly at that sort of level. So someone like a Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Furbank was out in the cold with Eddie Jones.

“He (Furbank) got a few caps and went away, but he got his head down, and has come back in again. Just establish yourself now for the season. Say that you’re here. Let’s not have a conversation on Sunday going, should it be (Freddie) Steward or Furbank? I’d love it to be (Ollie) Sleightholme or (Tommy) Freeman, I love them both. I just want those players to really take the opportunity and establish themselves.”

Hartley turned his attention to the fly half contention, with Marcus Smith named to lead the England line against New Zealand. Smith gets the nod for the 10 shirt with George Ford on the bench, in what will be the first match for the Sale Sharks man since he sustained his quad injury against Saracens last month.

There is also no place in the match day 23 for Northampton fly half Fin Smith, who gets the unfortunate accolade of being the only Enhanced England Player Squad contract holder to miss out on the match.

“I think that’s probably the most interesting one. The fact and look again, (Fin Smith) is going really well for for club. But what I am excited about is Marcus Smith, that confidence in building. It could be either Smith, I just like continuity and selection, because continuity and selection, players can establish themselves, get comfortable, understand that mistakes can be made, and they get another chance to sort of put them right.

“I think for Marcus to sort of continue, we’re not having that debate anymore about (Owen) Farrell or Ford. It’s a Smith debate, but I think it’s really bold. I think it’s a bold selection by Steve Borthwick, whether we like it or not it’s really good for the team. So people know where they sit within that hierarchy, that pecking order, that natural selection. I think it’s really bold.”

“That was probably the only interesting selection. Why would you have Fin Smith there? I think that’s interesting. Yeah, he’s (Borthwick) obviously going with experience and that’s enough.”

Hartley wrapped up the call by expressing the need for England to ‘play a full hand’ against the All Blacks, and not hold anything back for their upcoming Autumn Nations matches. It is a hectic schedule for the England players, as after battling it out against New Zealand, they are faced with the Wallabies the following Saturday, before the back-to-back world champions South Africa arrive at Twickenham on November 16th.

“Play a full hand. Every team has a generic way of playing. They’ve all got an understanding of how they play, a philosophy and understanding, a shape, whatever you want to call it. To beat the All Blacks, they’ll play that way, but there’ll be a couple of messages, every team’s got a couple of moves that they can expose the opposition with.

“So, you’re crazy to think that holding back a special play because South Africa defend a completely different way to New Zealand. So, We talk about death by analysis coaches. Coaches do the analysis, but they change the nuances of how England will play for the opposition to expose the opposition, not because they are inferior or scared of the opposition.

“It’s just playing to their strengths of how they think they can beat the opposition. So New Zealand would be one set of rules, with a foundation of an understanding philosophy, you know, attacking shape. Then for Australia, they’ll change a few things to expose Australia, or they may like to take South Africa on where they think their strong, you know, might not be the smartest play in the book. So they’ll be creative there.

“It’s all about looking at your opposition, understanding where your strengths lie, horses for courses, that type of thing. The other thing is emotional momentum and confidence. There’s no point holding everything back, thinking ‘we’re going to beat South Africa in three weeks’.

“If you win this game, you win the next game, and then, momentum, confidence, that contributes to what you’re doing in any way you can. It’s crazy to think holding stuff back, because it’s not relevant. What you do against New Zealand might not be relevant against South Africa.”

The post “They need to start with a bang” – Dylan Hartley: Former captain wants England to start Autumn Series strong against All Blacks appeared first on Ruck.