Everything pointed to a glorious season finale for Dylan Hartley, who had steered Northampton from fourth place in the regular season standings into the 2013 Premiership final, courtesy of a thumping semi-final win over league leaders Saracens.

Heading into the final against resurgent Leicester, Hartley’s bags were already packed for his flight to Hong Kong with the British and Irish Lions less than two days later. What could possibly go wrong?

Here the PA news agency looks back at what happened next.

DIFFICULT DYLAN

England v Wales – NatWest 6 Nations – Twickenham Stadium
Dylan Hartley had his fair share of scrapes for club and country (Adam Davy/PA)

WHAT HAPPENED

Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs – Aviva Premiership – Franklin’s Gardens
Dylan Hartley saw his Lions ambitions go up in smoke (Joe Giddens/PA)

WHAT HE SAID

England v Ireland – NatWest 6 Nations – Twickenham Stadium
Dylan Hartley would bounce back and lead England to grand slam success (Gareth Fuller/PA)

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

Rugby Union – 2013 British and Irish Lions Tour – Third Test – Australia v British and Irish Lions – ANZ Stadium
The British and Irish Lions went on to claim an historic victory (David Davies/PA)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *