Eddie needs a leader who will be there at bitter end

RUGBY MATTERS

BRENDAN GALLAGHER

A new weekly look at the game’s other talking points

IS Dylan Hartley the Mike Brearley of English Rugby?

I ask that question in light of Eddie Jones’ staunch support earlier this week of his England captain whose form at club level has been negligible compared with his nearest rivals for the England hooking berth, while as the Northampton skipper he has failed to inspire his team this season, although there was the encouragement of yesterday’s win over Gloucester.

Brearley, just to recap for younger readers, was an ordinary opening bat at the very top level – an average of 22 as opener in 39 Tests –who nonetheless captained England to 17 wins in 31 Tests during which time they lost just four games.

A trained psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, he famously teased the best out of big characters such as Sir Ian Botham and Bob Willis, inspired the mercurial David Gower and bolstered players such as Chris Old and Graham Dilley, who sometimes lacked the confidence their abilities warranted.

No spring chicken, Brearley, left, didn’t bowl and was long past his wicketkeeping days but maintained his place in the side on the strength of his shrewd and inspiring captaincy alone. England were simply a much better team with Brearley at the helm and the ‘cost’ of that was to exclude a batsman who might average say 20 runs more per innings. That, in crude terms, was the calculation the England selectors made.

Must up his game: Dylan Hartley

Finding that balance is certainly what Eddie Jones seemed to be alluding to this week when he defended his captain: “Dylan’s got a clear role with England and that’s to be captain and to be the leader. His value to us is as captain and he’ll be a fine captain for us. As long as Dylan’s attitude is right, his body is right, he brings something to the table that we need at the moment – and that is strong leadership.”

It’s a good soundbite but I’m not totally convinced. First, I don’t think, long term, you can have an out-of-sorts England captain at hooker when other better playing options exist. It is clearly one of the key positions on the field, intimately involved at every lineout and scrum. In those situations, you don’t want your best captain playing No.2, you need your best hooker. Hartley was pretty decent for England in the autumn but when was the last time we saw the barn-storming, tackle-breaking and off-loading Hartley that thrust himself into the England team back in 2009?

Also if Hartley’s captaincy is so vitally important a la Brearley, why does he regularly come off after 55 minutes in so many games which are still in the balance? Brearley might not have contributed a pile of runs but his incredible cricketing brain and man management skills were being employed throughout the five-day Tests. I don’t remember him coming off on the final afternoon at Headingley in 1981 when the Aussies were 56-1 chasing just 130 to win.

And there is another nuance here. Brearley captained Middlesex to four County Championships during his time as England skipper and in First Class cricket averaged nearly 38 in compiling 25,861 runs. When playing for England he never allowed his standards to slip when he returned to his county. His batting was notably better for Middlesex while his captaincy was always outstanding. That used to be the case with Hartley, he was involved in lots of good stuff for Saints, but not for a couple of years now.

So the lesson for me is that if Dylan Hartley is to get through to RWC2019 he needs to notably improve his performances for Northampton and insist upon seeing every game – club and country – through to the bitter end. A good start would be a full 80 minute shift for England in Rome first up against Italy.