Eddie Jones is free to pick Dylan Hartley and Nathan Hughes for the autumn internationals after a controversial day of disciplinary hearings in which Northampton claimed the England captain is being unfairly targeted by officials because of his record that includes 60 weeks of suspensions. Hartley was cleared of his latest charge while Hughes received a two-week ban that expires before England’s first match against Argentina. Joe Marler was given a three-week ban and misses the Tests against the Pumas and Australia.
Marler will be unavailable for two matches because his ban was in effect spread out over four weeks – the disciplinary committee ruling that as he was likely to be named in England’s training squad on Thursday, he would not have been available for Harlequins for an Anglo-Welsh game. Hughes was handed a two-week ban but no such extension was made, nor any mention of his “likely playing commitments”, which counted against Marler.
Hartley’s reprieve will be particularly welcomed by Jones, who has selected the hooker as captain for each of his 20 matches in charge. It is understood Jones provided a character reference for Hartley, as well as for Hughes and Marler, and the Australian has staunchly defended his captain ever since appointing him.
Having Hughes available when he names his 34-man squad is also a huge boost for Jones considering Billy Vunipola, Jack Clifford and Josh Beaumont are nursing injuries. Without Hughes, who was found guilty of striking the head of the Harlequins teenage fly-half Marcus Smith, Jones’s options at No8 would be severely limited.
Hartley had been cited for striking Clermont’s Rabah Slimani and after the charge was thrown out Northampton issued a scathing statement. “The decision to cite Dylan was unjustified,” said the Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder. “Anyone who watched the game could see this was completely accidental. Citings like this do beg the question of whether Dylan is being singled out for what has happened in the past rather than being judged solely on Saturday’s game.”
The citing complaint against Dylan Hartley has today been dismissed by an independent panel
— Northampton Saints (@SaintsRugby) October 25, 2017
Dylan is free to play on Saturday against Wasps pic.twitter.com/NTMWgUFcjL
Hartley pleaded not guilty after he had been charged with allegedly striking the head of Slimani as the hooker cleared out a ruck – an offence that carries a minimum suspension of two weeks. The 31-year-old was shown a yellow card and the disciplinary committee found that while the act was “reckless“, it did not warrant a red card.
Marler has been banned for three weeks for striking Wasps’ Will Rowlands and will miss England’s first two matches but like his Harlequins and Lions team-mate Kyle Sinckler he is in theory free to play against Samoa.
Jones is at least well-stocked with loosehead props, considering the fine form of Leicester’s Ellis Genge, who started both summer Tests in Argentina. Mako Vunipola is another option but as one of six England players to feature in all three Lions Tests over the summer he is among the leading candidates to be rested at some stage during the November series. While Jones does plan to rest some of his players across the course of the autumn internationals, the vast majority of England’s Lions will be named in what has been described as a “very strong” squad.
Marler has impressed for Harlequins this season and his absence is a blow for Jones, who is also without Clifford, Billy Vunipola, Jack Nowell, Ben Te’o, Beaumont, Sinckler and Manu Tuilagi this autumn.
Both Marler and Hughes have three days to appeal after receiving the written judgment of their hearings. Harlequins do not intend to do so, with their director of rugby, John Kingston, saying: “While there were mitigating factors, players can’t take the law into their own hands and Joe accepts that.”
It is understood, however, that the club have taken issue with how Marler’s three-week ban has been spread out over four weeks. In determining that Marler will not be free to play again until 20 November, the panel discounted the weekend of 4-5 November. Harlequins are due to play an Anglo-Welsh Cup tie against Saracens on the Sunday but England have a training camp in Portugal that week, ruling the 34 players selected on Thursday out of club action.
Harlequins believe they have a case, no doubt strengthened after Hughes’s verdict, because while Marler was almost certainly due to be named in Jones’s squad, he had not been at the time of the hearing. In 2013 Cian Healy successfully appealed against a three-week ban being spread over four weeks after the disciplinary panel had initially ruled he was unlikely to play for Leinster during a Six Nations rest week.
Marler had been cited for striking Rowlands with his elbow in the same match as Hughes’s infraction. The disciplinary committee ruled Marler’s offence did warrant a red card but he had used his arm rather than his elbow. He was initially given a four-week ban, reduced to three for mitigating factors include a guilty plea.
