Dylan Hartley has revealed the brutal way he was told he would not be going to the 2019 World Cup by England boss Eddie Jones.
The New Zealand-born hooker, who captained England between 2015 and 2018, won 97 caps for his adopted country after making his debut way back in 2008
In an interview printed in the Daily Telegraph, Hartley said that he felt “like a piece of meat, thrown in the bin because it was past its sell-by date. I’d had enough of being governed by Eddie.”
As he battled to prove his fitness, he was eventually told by Jones: “You’re f****d, mate.”
Hartley continued: “Even by the standards of the 6am texts he delivers while running on the treadmill, which make the recipient’s balls tighten and the brain melt, this phone call was brutal… he was effectively ending my England career with three words.”
Although Hartley admits that Jones is the best coach he has ever had, he believes the Australian was harder on him than any other player in the England squad.
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“I was absolutely fucking bollocksed,” Hartley told the Telegraph.
‘That was fucking shit, mate. That’s fucking shit … you’re shit. You shouldn’t be here.’
“Anyone who looked even slightly out of shape had about as much chance of survival as a wildebeest wandering into a herd of lions.
“You were like a piece of meat, thrown in the bin because it was past its sell-by date. I’d had enough of being governed by Eddie.”
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Former England start Kyran Bracken was the first person to reveal why the Quins playmaker was mysteriously frozen out of Jones plans in 2018 despite being a regular up until that point.
“He (Care) made the mistake of speaking his mind to Eddie Jones and questioning how he wanted him to play when he was playing with an England ‘B’ team against Japan in the autumn of 2018,” revealed the former England scrum-half.
“Eddie’s response to that was ‘that’s not the attitude I want’ and he binned him from his plans.”
This story was later backed up by England and Harlequins teammate Mike Brown in his column for the Mail Online.
DID YOU KNOW? At age 11 he was invited to join the Academy at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club which meant giving up club rugby union for a fw years