England's Dylan Hartley reveals fear of international exile forever before recall
ENGLAND'S likely Six Nations captain Dylan Hartley thought his Test career was finished when he missed out on the World Cup because of his poor disciplinary record.
Dylan Hartley has 66 England caps to his name to date
The Northampton hooker, set to be named as skipper on Monday, was left out of the squad after his latest run-in with the authorities.
Recalled to the squad by new coach Eddie Jones last week, he revealed yesterday he thought there was no way back after the ban for head-butting Jamie George.
"Missing out on the World Cup, I thought I'd played my last game for England," said Hartley. "It's a huge change. For me it's a totally new thing. I'm on eggshells, on tippy-toes because of the new management. I want to impress and make a good account of myself."
Hartley has endured a stop-start season since returning for his club because of injury but made a positive impression in front of Jones against Glasgow last weekend.
"He did reasonably well. It was definitely an improvement on how he has been playing," said Jones.
A bizarre bid by European champions Toulon to join the Premiership is likely to fall on stony ground.
The French club's eccentric owner Mourad Boudjellal has written to the Premiership stating his desire to move across the Channel next season because of a row over the French salary cap. "It's a serious approach," insisted Boudjellal.
Premiership Rugby acknowledged receipt of the letter yesterday but are likely to throw out the request.