Dylan Hartley’s place in doubt as fears are raised over Lions schedule

Hart-break: Dylan Hartley lifted the Six Nations trophy but could miss out on a Lions spot
David Rogers/Getty Images
Chris Jones18 April 2017

Dylan Hartley could become the third successive England captain to miss out on a Lions place when Warren Gatland finalises his squad for a “suicidal” tour of New Zealand.

That is the description Graham Henry, the only man to have coached both the All Blacks and Lions, has used to sum up the challenge facing Gatland and his players this summer on a tough 10-match schedule that includes three Tests.

Despite leading England to successive Six Nations titles, Hartley is struggling to convince head coach Gatland he should be one of the three hookers.

There will be more bad news for England’s leading players, with nearly half the team expected to miss out when the squad is revealed tomorrow lunchtime.

Hartley is up against Saracens’ Jamie George, Ireland’s Rory Best and Wales’ Ken Owens — and if the vote goes against him he will join current Lions forwards coach Steve Borthwick (2009) and Chris Robshaw (2013) in missing a Lions tour when England captain.

It looks certain that Joe Launchbury, Jonathan Joseph, Mike Brown, George Ford and James Haskell will also be ignored for New Zealand. Instead they will be touring with England in Argentina, ready to take over if injury strikes the Lions party.

Gatland has been heavily influenced by Ireland’s 13-9 win in Dublin last month, which denied England a second successive Six Nations Grand Slam — and the names of possible England omissions have leaked out despite attempts to protect details of the selection verdicts.

England’s inability to subdue the Irish at the Aviva Stadium in the final game of the championship, coupled with Ireland’s historic victory over the All Blacks in Chicago in November, has been a key factor in selection.

That is why Ulster lock Iain Henderson and Munster’s Donnacha Ryan are expected to be in the squad, along with another Munster man — flanker Peter O’Mahony.

Whoever is chosen faces a tough schedule, with the Lions playing all five of New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides and a match against the Maori All Blacks in addition to the three Tests in Auckland and Wellington.

New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides have been dominating the competition and are unlikely to be a pushover for Gatland’s squad, as witnessed by the Waikato Chiefs’ 40-7 demolition of Wales during their tour last June.

Henry, who led the All Blacks to World Cup glory in 2011 but lost his 2001 Lions series 2-1 in Australia, told ESPN: “I know from my own experiences how much the players respect getting selected for the Lions.

“It is the pinnacle of their career. It is massive but they need to do well and I just wonder if the itinerary is suicidal. That is my concern.

“They are playing New Zealand Maori, they are playing the five franchise teams — and those five franchise teams have nothing to lose, no pressure on them at all, so they will fire everything at the Lions and take them on.

“Hopefully they (the Lions) have the ability to overcome that. But really when you tour, you need to ensure some momentum is created by results and you just wonder how they are going to go into the Test series with that itinerary. It is very demanding.

“The Lions are remembered by the Test match results but sides gain confidence and momentum through the games they play leading into those Test matches, and if they don’t get success in those games, confidence is not going to be high and that is going to affect the way they play in the Test matches.”

Besides the major debate over the three hookers, Gatland and his coaches must also decide if they can afford to travel to New Zealand with just two fly-halves, Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton, as that will mean both must be involved in all the match squads. The other option is to take Ford or, more likely, Dan Biggar, whose goal kicking is more reliable.

Ben Te’o is expected to fill the role of hard-running centre which is normally handed to Jamie Roberts as Gatland goes for muscular midfield options rather than the subtle skills of men like Joseph, who scored a hat-trick against Scotland, who will have a small contingent on the tour.

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