Eddie Jones has set Dylan Harley an ultimatum.
The England captain must pass a gruelling fitness test on Wednesday, or he won’t play any part in the country’s Six Nations opener against France. If Hartley fails, he’ll be replaced by Owen Farrell as captain for the game in Twickenham on February 4th.
Hartley hasn’t played since his straight arm tackle on Sean O’Brien during the game between Northampton Saints and Leinster on December 10th. He received a six-week ban for the incident.
Jones said that his player must cover at least 120 metres-per-minute during a 36-minute session.
“I’m anticipating him to go well because all his training parameters are good so far,” the England coach said.
“You’ve got all the GPS that measures everything. A Test game of rugby is approximately 36 minutes of ball in play.
Back for the Six Nations, nice for some https://t.co/v7IqBZzN7U
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“So you have to run around 120 metres-per-minute, that’s the average speed. He’s got to be able to do a session of that quality and if he can do that he can do a game.
“We’ll decide on Wednesday one minute after he’s done the session because we’re going to name the squad on Friday.”
Hartley’s ban ends on January 21st. Despite being out of action for an extended period, and having little playing time under his belt ahead of the Six Nations, Jones’ expects his player to be in prime condition for the tournament.
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“I’ve never seen him look fitter,” Jones said.
“You’d want him to have been playing rugby but he’s certainly benefited from weeks of strength and conditioning.
“That’s probably put him in better condition than he was for last year’s Six Nations.”
Almost like he is being rewarded for bad behaviour?
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