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Ex-England skipper Dylan Hartley has given his insight on what makes Maro Itoje so competitive, adding that he wishes he didn’t neglect ten years of his own career not training to learn instead of simply just training to train.
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Itoje was at the heart last Saturday in driving England to Six Nations glory for the first time since Hartley collected the trophy in 2017 and the now-retired hooker has explained why he has the utmost admiration for how the second row goes about his business of trying to get better as a player.
Appearing as co-host on the latest episode of RugbyPass Offload with ex-Wales midfielder Jamie Roberts, Hartley gave a glimpse as to what life is like inside England training with the likes of Itoje, suggesting he wished it had been like that way back when he was initially capped at Test level.
“That is why Eddie (Jones) was really good for me – he probed, pushed, said you needed to do this, do that. He actually gave me feedback instead of at 21 I got capped and then it felt like I played rugby for ten years without being coached on specific things,” outlined Hartley, reflecting on his 97-cap career with England which ended with a final appearance in November 2018.
“I used to just train for the sake of training and then one guy, almost like a mentor of mine, said why do you train? Are you training to get better or are you training just to train? I was, I suppose I am just training.
EPISODE 5 of RUGBYPASS OFFLOAD
Special guest CJ Stander joins Dylan Hartley, Jamie Roberts and Christina Mahon to wrap up the #sixnations2020 and look forward to lots more international Rugby 🍻
iTunes – https://t.co/lkYxZZv3nf
Spotify – https://t.co/OglUEbEJfY#RPoffload pic.twitter.com/FDq01DV7DC— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 4, 2020
“But as soon as he asked me that I started approaching training, how can I train better today, how can I push myself in certain areas, how can I challenge and test myself, make myself feel uncomfortable, put myself in positions where I might have to catch the ball as a front row player?
“Just little things like that. It just changed my mindset to training but that happened at 30 years old. I was late for the party,” he said, stating that the same unnamed mentor gave Itoje the same sage advice about training.
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“It’s basically the same guy that told me about training to get better, he actually went on then to communicate that to the whole team… you’re never just waiting for the weekend. Every minute of every session is preparing for that so just deal with that next moment in front of your face. Train to get better and Maro epitomises that because he is such a competitor.
“Eddie wants an environment where everyone is striving to win. They talked about winning that (2019) World Cup for four years in my time there and when I left they were still talking about that. They didn’t quite do it but it was there for them, they could have reached out and got it with two hands if they made that final push.
“But that England environment is basically built for everyone to compete and to push and to win. You talk about winning the weights session, winning everything, just try and be as competitive as possible and maybe that is the Australian side of Eddie coming out because every Aussie I know is a competitive sod.
“So Maro, if you look at him, he is physical, he is athletic, but if I look at his game, I’d say it is built on his competitive nature, his competitive confrontation, his competitive physicality, everything you want in a big modern lock.
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“He is quite unassuming off the field but as soon as he comes into this leadership role, whether it is talking about lineout defence or leading the team on the field, he’s just a whole different personality and it’s all built on being a competitor.”
Ex-Scotland lock Jim Hamilton doesn't hold back in outlining his current Lions pecking order at second row 😲 https://t.co/1p2aW49jhe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 4, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments