Rejuvenated Dylan Hartley says six months out of rugby and a chat with Alastair Cook has him hungrier than ever

Dylan Hartley and Alastair Cook may not be the names that spring to mind when you think of English sportsmen going through similar circumstances, but their separate paths are not that different.

Hartley is back in the England squad after six months away from the game, having suffered a third serious concussion of his career in the Six Nations finale against Ireland last March that ended his season early. That enforced time out of the game, particularly away from the England squad, made him more determined than ever to get back into the side, especially with the Rugby World Cup on the horizon.

The 32-year-old has also had to watch the same England side try and drag itself out of its slump without him, with the third Test victory over South Africa in the summer ending a run of five straight Test defeats.

Cook will resonate with that. Having gone through some tough times as captain of England’s Test cricket side, the 33-year-old waved goodbye to the international scene earlier this month after 161 Test appearances, ending a career that had not always gone smoothly. Sure, there were no concussions or injury-forced absences like Hartley has suffered from, but the difficult times will have felt the same.

In that regard, it is perhaps no surprise that the two friends spoke with each other since Cook signed off with a brilliant farewell score of 147 in his final innings. But while the conversation was about Cook’s retirement, Hartley insisted it was never about his own.

“I talked to him the other day,” Hartley said. “Not about retirement, although naturally the conversation did head that way ... but about him, not me.

“Some of things he said to me which were in confidence made me think that I’m still in a good place where I am professionally and with sport.”

But while he dismissed the idea of hanging up his boots, he did have plenty of time to reflect on what it meant being part of an international team that he has been a mainstay of for a decade.

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“That feeling of inclusion and being involved with something is pretty good because when you’re injured, suspended or not selected you’re on the outside; you’re not really involved with anything. It’s great to be back in the room with a good group of people,” he explained.

“When you’re on the outside you’ve got to work it out for yourself. Tunnel vision, be very selfish, work out how you can get back in. It’s a good thing to do (be outside looking in), to have happened. A new perspective is always a good tool in all walks of life.

“Re-fire, re-energise, re-focus. What do you need to do? (It) makes you look at yourself. What you need to do physically, mentally, playing wise? What do you need to do to be a contender again?

“It makes you realise what you’re missing. The easy thing when you’re injured or not selected is just to accept your fate. ‘Okay that’s me’. But every individual’s different. Some people come and go, some people go and come back, some people stay for a long time. It’s very much individual. I’ve still got desire to be good, to be involved in something good. That’s why I’m sat here.”

With 20 matches between now and the start of the World Cup, beginning with the four autumn internationals in November against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, England certainly need to shape up and rediscover the form that they showed over their first two years under Eddie Jones.

Much was made over that period about England’s performances, but in hindsight what really mattered was the fact that the national team were enjoying their most successful winning run in their history, and Hartley is more than aware of what that can do for the atmosphere around the team, having taken a keen interest in how the national football team were able to gain that needed support during the World Cup.

“I really enjoyed the fanfare,” Hartley said. “I don’t watch football games but I watched football games during the World Cup. In England we are very patriotic given the chance. I think we saw the best side of ourselves. I thought it was brilliant.

“I think if we win the country will follow. Especially at World Cups. No-one’s going to remember performances, they’re going to remember results.”