the times | Friday March 18 2022 65
Guinness Six NationsSport
scrummaging two-on-one. While I
focused on my left shoulder, my link
with Coley was weakened, which left
the most important man in the scrum
isolated. You have to problem-solve
on the field. We were looking to each
other for answers but we didn’t have
the experience to find a solution.
Both Coley and I got the shepherd’s
crook at half-time. Graham Rowntree
was our forwards coach and when I
felt him put his arm around me in the
changing room I knew. It was the
right thing to do. We were hurting the
team and it was a game that had a
lasting impact. Even though I started
games that autumn and in the 2011
Six Nations, by the time we got to the
World Cup, Steve Thompson was
back as No 1 hooker. I have always
felt that day in Paris shifted things
in the mind of Martin Johnson, our
head coach.
The only other occasion I was
replaced at half-time was at the other
end of my England career and it also
had profound implications. While I
understood Johnno’s decision in 2010,
the second one left me confused.
It was November 2018, a wet day,
and my sort of game, with conditions
benefitting good set-piece rugby and
mostly the defensive side. I’d been
heavily involved, scored a try, and we
were leading New Zealand 15-10 so I
was surprised when Eddie pulled me
off. The game got away from us and
we lost 16-15.
The following week we played
Japan so I knew there would be
changes. I expected then to be
reinstated for the Australia game —
but I was on the bench again. It
turned out to be my last game for
England. Sad as that was, I always
had my night in Paris.not seen them deliver a purely
emotional performance — when
they just ride this wave of passion
and energy. It could happen
tomorrow night.
We ran into exactly that level of
passion. France had this iconic front
row of Thomas Domingo, William
Servat, who is now their scrum coach,
and Nicolas Mas, and plenty of
weight behind them. When the
French pack have their tails up,
that roar from the crowd makes them
such a force.
That day it was me, Tim Payne at
loose-head and Coley at tight-head. I
was just 23, which is a baby in front-
row terms. They were relentless. Mas
was not the biggest guy but he was so
technical; he was small, compact, and
scrummaged at an angle to get into
the hole under my left shoulder so he
was really difficult to move.
Servat and Mas pincered in on me,didn’t want a Kiwi as England
captain. The RFU got a couple of
letters saying schools were going to
take rugby out of their programme
because I wasn’t the right role model.
Do you want everyone to be perfect
or do you want competitors? Do you
want to show your kids that failure is
accepted and that people can work on
themselves to change? I am a role
model in that respect and that is why
I enjoy working with and mentoring
young people now.
I had a chip on my shoulder that I
wasn’t accepted and I had to change
the narrative. Winning that grand
slam did that.
The situation in 2010 was similar to
tomorrow’s game. France had to beat
us, the old enemy — Les Rosbifs — to
seal the slam. The Stade de France
was rocking and France fed off that.
This present France team seem much
more calculated and clinical. I haveT
his is a tale of two grand
slam nights in Paris; one of
which I struggle to
remember, the other of
which I would rather forget.
When France beat us in 2010 to
win the grand slam, it was the first of
only two occasions in my Test career
when I was replaced at half-time. I
trudged off with Dan Cole after we
had been served a brutal lesson in the
art of Test-match scrummaging.
The memories of 2016 are happier,
if patchier. That game also ended
prematurely for me — because I was
knocked out. I don’t really recall
lifting the trophy after England had
won the slam — but I did take it
to bed with me that night and the
team partied in Paris on the RFU’s
credit card.
In some ways I am glad I
had that time alone to
reflect with the
silverware because
winning that slam was
the highest moment of
my England career, for
so many reasons. It
validated the team and
it validated my captaincy.
England had finished
second in the Six Nations
four years in succession under
Stuart Lancaster. It was the same
group of players in 2016, but Eddie
Jones just gave us the tactical and
psychological guidance we needed.
We beat France 31-21 that night.
I was knocked out in the
67th minute by Uini Atonio, their
23st-plus prop. I grew up in Rotorua,
New Zealand, in a rugby culture with
a lot of big boys and my dad always
banged on about taking them low. I
brought Atonio down and forced a
knock-on — but in the process his
knee caught me clean on the head
and I was out cold.
I woke up with Owen Farrell
leaning over me: “You alright, lad?” I
didn’t have a headache but I was
disorientated. They wanted me to stay
in the medical room at
the Stade de France, but
no way was I going to miss
the end of the game. I needed
to be out there for my mental
state — to watch us do it. I wanted to
see us get over the line after five years
of falling short.
As I lay there in my room that
night, looking at the trophy, I also felt
I had proved a point to the rugby
community. When I was appointed
captain I couldn’t celebrate or enjoy
the honour because for weeks I had
to answer the same questions about
my discipline and whether I could be
trusted. I understood that and I
owned it completely — I had given
people plenty to write about, plenty of
reasons to ask those questions — but
it was emotionally draining.
My appointment wasn’t celebrated
like some; I never got congratulated
or a pat on the back. Some peopleMy slam memories? Down and out in Paris
Dylan Hartleytley
Former England
captaint oneWhileIHartley captained England to the grand slam in 2016, six years after they were punished in Paris, aboveDAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES3
Grand slams won by
France in the Six Nations
era (since 2000), one
fewer than Wales, who
have the most of any
side in that period