Breaking News: Hartley has faith in inexperienced England
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England have not won at Murrayfield since 2004 but hooker Dylan Hartley reckons that will not be an issue for this inexperienced squad.
Interim head coach Stuart Lancaster has put his trust in a youth as England head north for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown and Northampton skipper Hartley is confident it is an approach will will reap dividends.
“It’s a new challenge,” Hartley said. “No one in here can say they have won the World Cup, no one in here can say they have won a Grand Slam. Only a few have won the Six Nations.
“We have a new group, we are going to grow and learn together. There are challenges ahead of us.
“It is difficult to win at Murrayfield. We haven’t won there in eight years. You can get into an arm wrestle with the Scots.
“It is just a challenge in itself, going away from home and winning.I don’t get intimidated. I enjoy it. The atmosphere is always good - the bagpipes, smoke, all the singing. It is the things you enjoy as a player. I am excited for it.”
England scraped unconvincingly into the World Cup quarter-finals with Chris Ashton’s last-gasp try against Scotland four months ago.
Hartley added: “We won the game in the last minute and we don’t want to be in that position again, chasing it.
“Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock said (when they addressed us) last week - we can’t wait until we are 20 minutes into the game.
“We have got to start in the first minute, grab the game by the scruff of the neck. You can’t wait for something to happen. We have got to pile in.”
That is the message too from the England management, who are attempting to remove the shackles and encourage a more attacking outlook from the squad.
Scotland’s back row are experts at combating sides who want to play with tempo and England are unlikely to get much of an opportunity to play free-flowing rugby at Murrayfield.
But forwards coach Graham Rowntree insisted the shift in approach from England applies as much to their mindset as to their style of play.
“They have a good kicking game, a good pressure game. We have got to meet that head on,” he said. “There will be fire and brimstone but I like to think we can bring a bit of that as well.
“We put our trust in these guys. We don’t want these guys to be harnessed by the fear of losing. Go out and play. Play like you do for your clubs. Don’t be worrying about making a mistake.”
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