Dylan Hartley: 'I am confident I will play rugby until I am 50'

England hooker Dylan Hartley. Photo / Getty

Dylan Hartley has dismissed any notion that his career might have been at risk after three serious concussions by saying that he "had no concerns" and was "at peace" with the doctors' advice that rest would be the best cure.

The England and Northampton hooker is in line to return to action in Friday's friendly against Glasgow Warriors at Franklin's Gardens, his first match since taking a blow to the head against Ireland in the final game of the 2018 Six Nations.

The 32-year-old played a graduated role in the England training camp at the start of August and professes himself to be "refreshed and re-energised", fully intending to helping Saints back to their former glories under new management, with a view also to reclaiming his leading role with England.

All this is bullish and typically combative, reassuringly so. Yet there were doubts hanging in the air, with the player himself wondering two years ago how damaging another bout of concussion might be, given he had a lay-off following England's claiming of the Grand Slam in Paris, a moment of triumph that Hartley admitted he struggled to recall the following morning. It was only natural that question marks would swirl around him after he was stood down for the rest of last season, missing the England tour to South Africa in June, when Owen Farrell took over the captaincy.

Hartley, though, was defiant, posting a picture of himself on social media singing the national anthem and upbraiding those so-called experts who suggested that he would never again line up to belt out God Save the Queen.

"I made a statement because everyone else was making statements on me and I thought who better to make a statement on me than me," said Hartley, as Northampton held an open day prior to kick-starting their season under the guidance of Chris Boyd, the new director of rugby from Wellington Hurricanes.

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Dylan Hartley statement on Dylan Hartley. Believe it or not this is a photo of me singing and not what is rumoured to be a fat lady (difficult to tell apart I know). I see there’s a lot of so-called experts out there in newspapers, pubs and podcasts recommending what I do with my career. Funnily enough I’m only listening to the medical professionals and myself. Fortunately/unfortunately for some I’ll be back next season to help my respective teams push on. Thank you for your support.

A post shared by Dylan Hartley (@dylanhartley) on Apr 24, 2018 at 2:33am PDT

"I sought good advice and I trusted what they said would happen and it happened. I am confident I will play rugby until I am 50. I had no concerns. I surrounded myself with the right advice and here I am ready to play. There was disappointment initially because you want to be involved in everything. You don't want to miss games, but once the decision had been made for me, I made peace with it. There was no rush, there was no target game for me to get back for. As soon as I took my foot off the gas and stopped trying to make it back every week, which I was trying to do, I felt myself instantly get better. Removing those kind of pressures has worked. I am in a good place."

A born-again Hartley chimes with the prevailing mood at Franklin's Gardens, a once mighty force fallen on hard times and last season, in particular, when they slumped to ninth in the Premiership. They insist that they have regrouped under Boyd. The highly regarded New Zealander may only have arrived in the country last week after finishing his duties with the Hurricanes, but he has visited the club three times since being appointed in January and has plotted their putative revival from afar in the modern way via Skype and WhatsApp.

"Time out of the game and out of any shirt is good time," said Hartley. "I've been re-energised coming back into the club and into a new regime. There have been a lot of changes in staff and with 17 players leaving. There's a new air about the place and I felt like a 19-year-old coming back on my first day of academy training. There's a nervous energy about the place. Chris speaks a different rugby language to what I've known. I'm enjoying learning."

Hartley is well aware he needs to perform for Saints if he is to dislodge Jamie George, the starting hooker in South Africa. There is little doubt, though, that Eddie Jones values his leadership qualities to the extent Hartley has played a long-distance support role, even if he is an antsy spectator.

"I got agitated watching the rugby on TV and am quite aggressive with the cushions as they get thrown around," said Hartley. "There is bad language and my family have to leave the room. The heart-rate goes up. I'm still connected with the [England] team, still connected with Owen and Eddie on the tour. But it was also a good time for the team for me not to be there."

But Hartley is now back in business and determined to make his mark.