Hartley Locks Ears

New Zealand-born English hooker Dylan Hartley, 23, talks to The Independent on Sunday ahead of the team’s biennial trip to Edinburgh to play Scotland, which England meets once more before a “supremely crucial” World Cup pool match in New Zealand in September 2011. “Both teams will be desperate to win,” Hartley said. “I’ve played at Murrayfield once before, a club game against Borders, in front of about 50 people. I don’t know much about the history. It’s just another big game.” A misfiring line-out would be a signpost to Scotland taking the high road. And Hartley knows that the scrum will be tough too. That’s where he will lock cauliflower ears with [Northampton club-mate Euan] Murray. “He’s the ultimate professional and one of the best in the world at what he does,” said Hartley. “He’s a role model for me, the way he trains and lives his life, and he’s always on at me to get better.” Hartley was born in Rotorua. He received his first cap for England on 8 November, 2008 against the Pacific Islanders.