Former England captain’s enlightening autobiography could loosen a few tongues among his less forthright successors
It was always likely that Dylan Hartley’s soon-to-be published autobiography would cause a ripple or two. Few rugby players have managed to divide opinion so reliably or reinvent themselves so successfully; dull anonymity has rarely been the former England captain’s speciality. The initial passages to emerge from his book, The Hurt, are both forthright and striking.
Perhaps most significant of all, however, is the harsh light Hartley shines on rugby itself. Not since Jonny Wilkinson’s slightly disturbing autobiography has a high-profile England player made his day job sound more wince-inducing. “My generation of players have been crash dummies for a sport in transition from semi-professionalism,” he writes, suggesting the game’s money men treat those who take the field like “human widgets” and revealing that he discouraged his family from visiting the team hotel on days off “because it would have felt like a prison visit”.
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