England drop Northampton’s Dylan Hartley from World Cup training squad

Dylan Hartley will have to regain the trust of Stuart Lancaster if his international career is not to end on 66 caps having been told he would not be in England’s World Cup squad after picking up his fifth suspension in three years.

The Northampton hooker and captain received a four-match ban on Wednesday for striking his Saracens opposite number Jamie George during the Premiership semi-final. It covered the opening match of the World Cup against Fiji, forcing Lancaster to replace him in the England training squad with George five months after the head coach had supported Hartley when he was sent off against Leicester for elbowing Matt Smith.

“There comes a point with a player when you think the message is not getting through,” said Lancaster, when asked whether he felt his trust in Hartley, who was the most capped player in the training squad, over the years had been misplaced. “Dylan has two or three years at least left in him at the highest level. It is down to him to prove he can control his emotions in big matches and he will suffer a huge price now.”

Lancaster wasted no time in removing Hartley from the squad once he knew the hooker would not be appealing against the four-match ban that rules him out of England’s three warm-up matches before the World Cup and the tournament opener. Hartley would not have been in line to start the following two games against Wales and Australia because of a lack of match fitness.

“The risks ahead of the first match were too great,” Lancaster said. “You could have a case where the physio comes up the day before the game and says one of the hookers has a tight hamstring and I am sat there as the coach of the home nation playing the biggest game we have had and we have one hooker and no one on the bench. People would look at me as if I were daft. Dylan’s four-match ban was a game changer.

“Dylan and I talked at length. I do not want to go into the detail of the conversation but he admitted he had made a poor decision and got it wrong. He did not try and hide from what he had done and you can take it as a case in point that he did not appeal against the ban. He now has to find a balance in his game, understanding where the line is and keeping on the right side in terms of discipline. He did not receive a card [against Saracens] but the citing officer and the disciplinary panel made their call.

“I accept their decision because there was clearly something in it. There was no need to do that in a game like that and it has raised questions in my mind.”

Hartley was ejected from the squad in the same month that the Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi was told he would not be involved in the World Cup after being convicted for assaulting a taxi driver and two police officers. Both players were involved in the 2011 World Cup campaign that was marred by headline-making incidents off the field but Lancaster, who has placed a heavy emphasis on conduct, does not fear a repeat later this year.

“You will never get any team in the world that goes through four seasons without any issues,” he said. “What you hope to do is minimise them and deal with them proportionately and effectively. It has been a difficult couple of weeks in that regard, but I am hoping it is all done now.

“I suspect Dylan will now have a break. His pre-season will be solely with Northampton and he will throw himself into their environment, wanting to lead them effectively. He has been a great player and captain for them but he has bridges to build there as well.”Hartley, who missed the Lions tour to Australia in 2013 after being sent off in the Premiership final, said he was devastated. “I would like to apologise to Jamie, Stuart, and my team-mates both at Northampton as well as England,” he went on. “What happened is not acceptable and I understand why this decision has been made.”