Former Lions Coach Offers Laughable Excuse For Dylan Hartley Red Card

Dylan Hartley has been magnificent for England over the last twelve months. As captain he has led them on an unbeaten run throughout 2016, including a Grand Slam and clean sweep in Australia over the Wallabies.

Despite all this, his disciplinary record speaks for itself. Hartley may have had a good twelve months, but he’s erratic and unpredictable, and certainly should not be considered for a role as prestigious as the British & Irish Lions captaincy.

Surprisingly he’s been most bookies favourite for the role for quite some time, but his latest misdemeanour seems to have blown all chances. His tackle on Sean O’Brien was reckless, needless and most importantly- dangerous.

However, writing a column in the Daily Telegraph on Sunday, former Lions Head Coach, Sir Ian McGeechan, claimed that we shouldn’t over-react to the incident in question.

“This was not a punch, or an eye-gouge, or swearing at the referee. It was not a case of the ‘red mist’ descending as it used to for Hartley. It was a poorly-timed tackle for which he must take responsibility,” says McGeechan. 

We here have the utmost respect for Sir Ian, but those comments are outrageous. It was clearly a case of red-mist and timing simply cannot be used an excuse. Hartley will still tour New Zealand, but as captain he will not. At least we hope so.