Hartley all set for Murray battle
Northampton Saints skipper Dylan Hartley says playing against team-mate Euan Murray will be a benchmark for how his international career is progressing.
Murray and Hartley literally go head-to-head when England take on Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, with both sides smarting from defeat last time out in the RBS 6 Nations.
Hartley knows all about Murray's power in the scrum after packing down with the tighthead week after week for Saints and is looking forward to the challenge of nullifying the Scot.
Hartley said: "This game is a benchmark and if I play well against him I'll be pretty happy. I've scrummaged against a lot of good tight-heads. England have been scrummaging very well and we can take a lot of confidence from that.
"Anyway it is not an individual thing, it's an eight-man job. One guy doesn't make a forward pack. Ross Ford is also a good hooker and he's a big boy."
It will be big clash, but Hartley says there hasn't been any pre-match banter between the pair.
Hartley said: "Euan's too tight to text, he's a Scotsman, he's on pay-as-you-go! I talked to him a couple of weeks ago. There's mutual respect but no banter."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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