England legend accuses Dylan Hartley of 'deliberately injuring' opponents

Rugby News

by Steven Smith

Thursday, 27 August 2020 at 08:56

bySteven Smith

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Jeff Probyn, who once helped ban Dylan Hartley for eye gouging, has claimed the New Zealand-born ex-England hooker wasn't a true rugby "hard man'' because he committed "deliberate acts of violence''.

The prop, who won 37 England caps between 1988 and 1993, slammed Hartley's recent autobiography as a "sham''.

Writing in The Rugby Paper, he said: "His book, The Hurt, has some interesting views but nothing new, while attempting to justify a career cut short by injury and suspensions,''

He added: "There is a part of me that can’t help thinking that the injuries and the suspension he received during his career may be linked.

"I disagree as there is nothing hard about the deliberate acts of violence he designed to seriously injure other players who are trapped in either a ruck or a maul and unable to protect themselves, something he admits he did even at U19s level.

"Hartley protests in the quoted sections that his suspensions were, in part, because the discipline section of the RFU was unfit for purpose and out of date, which is laughable.

"Having sat on the panel that banned him for six months for eye gouging in 2007, I disagree.''

Discussing the case, he added that they: "watched numerous videos of the incidences (I say incidences because he gouged three people in the same game) and then we took statements from fellow international players who were part of the opposition and victims of his assaults.

"It is not unusual for fellow internationals to support each other even when testifying against each other – but this was certainly not the case, with his colleagues calling for a lengthy ban.''

Hartley’s suspensions included:

- 2007: 26 weeks for eye gouging two Wasps forwards.

- 2012: 8 weeks for biting the finger of Ireland backrower Stephen Ferris.

- 2012: 2 weeks for punching Ulster hooker Rory Best.

- 2013: 11 weeks for verbally abusing a match officials in the English Premiership final.

-2014: 3 weeks for elbowing a Leicester Tigers player.

- 2015: 4 weeks for contacting Saracens’ hooker Jamie George’s head.

- 2016: 6 weeks for a swinging arm to Leinster flanker Sean O’Brien’s head.

JOIN THE RUCK:

RANKED | The definitive list of England’s most-banned players

England's five most-banned players from down the years revealed.

5. Neil Back - Seven months in total

England flanker Back was in big trouble from the moment he pushed referee Steve Lander to the ground on the final whistle of Leicester’s 1996 Pilkington Cup final defeat against Bath. He maintained he had mistaken Lander for Bath back-rower Andy Robinson, but it didn’t wash and he was handed a six month ban. In 2005, he picked up a four-week ban for punching Wasps’ Joe Worsley in the Zurich Grand Final.

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4. Calum Clark - 32 weeks

This one still makes me wince. Northampton flanker Clark was found guilty of intentionally hyper-extending and breaking the arm of Leicester hooker Rob Hawkins during the 2012 LV cup final. The ban was initially for 64 weeks, but was halved due to his guilty plea.

3. Dylan Hartley - 60 weeks in total

Take a deep breath. In April 2007, the Northampton hooker was banned for 26 weeks for gouging Wasps duo James Haskell and Jonny O’Connor.

In March 2012, he was suspended for eight weeks for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris while on England duty at Twickenham. In December 2012, he was handed a two-week ban for striking Ulster’s Rory Best.

In May 2013, he was suspended for 11 weeks for abusing referee Wayne Barnes during the Saints’ Premiership final defeat to Leicester, missing the Lions tour of Australia as a result.

In December 2014, he was banned for three weeks for elbowing Tigers wing Matt Smith, and then in May of this year he was suspended for four weeks for butting his Saracens opposite number Jamie George, which led to him being dropped from England’s World Cup plans.

In December 2016, he was banned for 6 weeks having caught Leinster Rugby player Sean O'Brien with a swinging arm to the back of the head in a European Champions' Cup game

2. Matt Stevens - Two years

A colourful character, whose singing ability saw him appear on a celebrity version of X Factor, the Durban-born prop made a great success of his move from South Africa, playing for both England and the Lions. But in February 2009, things came crashing down when he was banned for two years after testing positive for cocaine following Bath’s Heineken Cup match against Glasgow a couple of months earlier. Managed to rebuild his career on his return to the game and went on a second Lions tour in 2013.

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1. Dean Richards - Three years

The England internationals ban came as a coach rather than a player. It all began with the purchase of fake blood capsules from a joke shop in Clapham and ended with Harlequins coach Richards being banned for three years for his role in the Bloodgate saga which erupted after Quins wing Tom Williams came off with a fake blood injury against Leinster in 2009.