England coach Eddie Jones said he wants fiery captain Dylan Hartley to play like Tarzan when the Six Nations tournament begins against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
“On the field he’s got to be Tarzan,” the Australian told the BBC on Monday. “He’s got to get out there and play with his heart and if he does that the players will follow him.”
Hartley was a controversial choice as captain because of the New Zealand-born player’s long history of ill-discipline at club level with Northampton.
Photo: Reuters
He has won 66 Test caps, but has accumulated bans totaling 54 weeks for head-butting, biting, gouging, swearing at referees, elbowing and punching.
Jones, who replaced Stuart Lancaster in November after England’s dismal showing at their home World Cup last year, has said he admires Hartley’s “aggressive and uncompromising approach,” but he also sees something else.
“The first time I met him, we came to the kitchen and he was speaking to people behind the counter, he was very polite and respectful,” he told the BBC. “He gets around, talks to people, encourages people to be involved.”
“Leadership is not about being in the front of the bus, beating your chest and saying: ‘do as I do.’ It’s about engaging people and finding out what qualities they have. I’ve been pleased how Dylan’s done that.”
Hartley is unlikely to play the full 80 minutes on Saturday and Jones said he would name a deputy when he announces his team.
The coach also indicated that 21-year-old Saracens forward Maro Itoje and Wasps back Elliot Daly need more time.
“Those two boys, I want them to be 60-Test players at least,” he said. “Now I’ve got to pick the right time to put them in.”
“They’ll play Test rugby for England — they’ll definitely play in the Six Nations at some stage, but I’ve got to pick the right opportunity for them to play,” Jones said.
“Their time will come,” he added.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB