'Superb' England captain Dylan Hartley receives RFU backing despite latest disciplinary concern

The England skipper will discover his autumn international fate at a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday morning

Dylan Hartley has been backed by the RFU as a 'superb' captain despite his latest disciplinary hearing (Getty)

The Rugby Football Union has backed “superb” England captain Dylan Hartley following his latest yellow card that could result in him being banned for part or all of next month’s autumn internationals.

Hartley has been cited for allegedly striking Clermont Auvergne prop Rabah Slimani in the face with his hand during Northampton Saints’ 24-7 defeat at the weekend, and faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday morning to determine whether he will be available for the upcoming Tests against Argentina, Australia and Samoa.

Video replays show that Hartley was attempting to clear out a ruck and did not appear to intentionally target the French international, but while the Saints hooker certainly has a case to defend himself, he was sin-binned by referee Ben Whitehouse and subsequently cited by match citing commissioner Douglas Hunter.

Furthermore, Hartley’s career has been littered by disciplinary issues that has earned him 60 weeks’ worth of suspensions – which includes costing him a World Cup and British and Irish Lions tour – which could well go against him during the hearing.

But since taking on the England captaincy, Hartley has kept himself squeaky-clean on the international stage and led his country to consecutive Six Nations titles, a Grand Slam in 2016 and victory in 20 of 21 international Test matches, and as such the RFU chief executive Steve Brown will leave all matters regarding the captaincy to head coach – though he did give the current skipper his public backing.

“The management of the England team is Eddie’s job and Eddie looks after that and will make his own judgement about that,” Brown said.

“My personal opinion is that Dylan has been a superb captain for England and I would withhold judgement until we see the outcome of any hearing.”

Hartley is not the only England player that faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, with Wasps No 8 Nathan Hughes and Harlequins prop Joe Marler in the dock for separate incidents during their clubs’ European Champions Cup encounter on Sunday. While Hartley could potentially escape further action, both Hughes and Marler face a bleaker fate with their incidents appearing more serious.

Hughes has been cited for an alleged dangerous tackle on young Quins fly-half Marcus Smith,while Marler was shown a yellow card for his part in a fracas with Hughes’ teammate Will Rowlands in which he appeared to strike the lock with his elbow.

Eddie Jones has shown faith in Hartley as his captain (Getty)

The citings to the three international players follows two separate incidents of eye-gouging or making contact with the eyes of an opponent with Harlequins prop Kyle Sinckler and Bath flanker Francois Louw currently serving bans for such offences, but RFU boss Brown insisted that the game does not have an issue with its image that could potentially impact on its new strategy plan to try and grow the game from the bottom up.

“They [players] have a responsibility as role models,” Brown added. “The way citings and the consequences work are a positive thing and the outcomes are public.”

Hartley, Hughes and Marler will all discover their fate on Wednesday ahead of Jones’ autumn internationals squad announcement on Thursday morning.