Post by caspday on Sept 23, 2012 22:08:43 GMT -5
"The top four is far from settled," said Patriots Jerseys Shop Hartley. "There zyhaa924 are some good teams out there. Wasps have started well without getting the results they deserve, I was impressed by Bath last week and Exeter continue to make strides. There is all to play for and you have to stay at the top of your game."After the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup comes the autumn QBE international series with England facing Australia, Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand at Twickenham. "It is a big month for us," said Hartley.
"We will not be taking any glory from Authentic Patriots Jerseys defeat. We want to perform and there will be no excuses. There is nothing to be gained in defeatism: we want to win every game."We came together well in the Six Nations and in South Africa in the summer and we have to kick on again. I have watched the Rugby Championship and while some are questioning the strength of Australia and South Africa, we know exactly what they are capable of but we do not fear anyone."At the end of the season there is the little matter of a Lions tour to Australia.
The head coach is a New Zealander, Warren ?Patriots Game jerseys Gatland, who played for Waikato and the All Blacks at hooker. How does Hartley, a New Zealand born hooker, view the prospect of making the trip?"I am English," he said, "not a New Zealander. Making the Lions would be the pinnacle of my career, but only hard work will get you on the plane; first for your club in the Premiership, then in the Heineken Cup, which is a step up, and then, if you are fortunate, playing for your country. If you perform well, you will give yourself a chance.
Piggy Powell (the former Northampton prop who went Reebok Patriots Jerseys on the 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand) always tells me stories about the Lions and it is clearly an experience you remember all your life."Gatland, the Wales coach, will spend most of November and all of the Six Nations watching rugby in the four home unions and taking in training sessions. Before Wales met England in Cardiff at the start of the 2011 Six Nations, Gatland launched a verbal attack on Hartley,
accusing him of cracking under pressure, choking Tom Brady Jerseys and turning down an invitation for a scrap when Northampton played Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Cup."I took his words as a compliment," said Hartley. "Selection for the Lions is in my hands: Warren will pick his squad on form and if I play well for Northampton and England, I will have a chance. It is a huge year with a number of big games and, I hope, a few rewards."