Dylan Hartley dropped from England World Cup training squad as Stuart Lancaster says he has ‘let everyone down’ over headbutt

Dylan Hartley has been dropped from England’s World Cup squad
Hartley pleaded guilty to headbutting Saracens’ Jamie George last weekend
Head coach Stuart Lancaster said Hartley ‘let himself and everyone down’
George has been called up to replace Hartley in Lancaster’s squad
Lancaster has not ruled out calling up the outcast as an injury replacement

Published:
10:21 GMT, 29 May 2015

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Updated:
11:40 GMT, 29 May 2015

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Dylan Hartley has been dropped by England and will play no part at the World Cup.

Stuart Lancaster has axed the Northampton hooker from his plans after he received a four-match ban for headbutting Saracens rival Jamie George.

It is the latest in a long line of misdemeanors for Hartley, who has racked up 54 weeks of suspensions for incidents including biting, eye-gouging, swearing, punching and elbowing and would not have been available for the three warm-up Tests or the opening pool match against Fiji.

England have announced they have dropped Dylan Hartley from their Rugby World Cup training squad after he was given a four-week ban after pleading guilty to headbutting Jamie George (centre)

Hartley planted his head into the side of that of George (concealed behind Jacques Burger) last weekend

Hartley took his career suspensions tally to 54 weeks and will now likely miss out on this year’s World Cup

tuart Lancaster confirmed he has dropped Hartley when announcing the team to face the Barbarians

TUILAGI ALREADY MISSING OUT

Dylan Hartley is not the only player to miss out on Stuart Lancaster’s squad after a misdemeanor, he joins Manu Tuilagi in being ditched from the World Cup selection.

Tuilagi was dropped from England’s tournament plans after the Leicester centre was convicted of assaulting two female police officers, along with other charges.

‘We need all our players to be able to control their discipline and make good decisions under pressure,’ said Lancaster. ‘The World Cup will clearly require this, and Dylan has not clearly displayed this in this latest incident.

‘This is an area that he still needs to address. Dylan will be replaced by Jamie George in the World Cup squad and will not be considered until the suspension is served.’

Ironically, George has been called up to replace the 29-year-old in the wider training squad. Leicester’s Tom Youngs is favourite to take over the No 2 jersey, while Luke Cowan-Dickie, Rob Webber and Tommy Taylor are also in contention.

Hartley has worked with sports psychologist Steve Peters to control his temper on the pitch but the Saints skipper clearly has work to do.

He missed the 2013 British Lions tour for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the Aviva Premiership final and will now miss another occasion that should be the highlight of his career.

‘We are obviously very disappointed with the situation that Dylan has put himself in and where that leaves us as a squad. I have spoken to him and he knows he has let himself and everyone down.

‘If we selected him in the World Cup squad he would have played no competitive rugby at all and we would be left exposed with only two available hookers in what is a specialised position going into the Fiji game.

Lancaster has decided that retaining Hartley in his World Cup training squad would be too great a risk

England’s Danny Cipriani plays a pass during a training session at The Lensbury on Friday morning

Lee Dickson picks the ball up during training on Friday with Hartley set to be dropped from the squad

‘All it would take is one injury (that is not tournament ending) during the week of the Fiji game and we would only have one fit hooker in the squad for our crucial opening game and this would leave us massively exposed.

‘In addition, the regulations also clearly state that in our World Cup Squad we must have sufficient cover that is suitably trained and experienced in the front row in case of injury. This is clearly not the case if we begin the tournament with a suspended hooker and as such we have been left with no choice but to replace him.’

In 2013, Hartley swore at referee Wayne Barnes which put paid to his chances of joining the Lions tour

England stood by Hartley for the Six Nations after his three-week ban for elbowing Leicester’s Matt Smith

Lancaster has not ruled out the possibility of calling up Hartley as an injury replacement after the Fiji test but, for now, the maligned forward seems destined for a career of ‘what ifs’.

‘I am devastated with what has happened and the position I have put myself and the England team in,’ said Hartley. ‘I would like to apologise to Jamie, Stuart, and my team mates both at Saints as well as England. What happened is not acceptable and I understand why this decision has been made.’