England captain Dylan Hartley has been ruled out of the summer tour of South Africa due to the effects of concussion.
The Northampton Saints hooker has been ruled out of the rest of the club season in addition to the England national side’s tour. Hartley has not played for either club or country since picking up a head injury in last month’s Six Nations defeat to Ireland at Twickenham. He will now take an extended rest period upon medical advice.
Captain Dylan Hartley to miss England’s tour to South Africa due to injury.
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The 32-year-old expressed his disappointment at being ruled out for such a long period of time, but accepted that following medical advice was the best course of action.
“It has been recommended that I take a break this summer and while I find that decision hard to accept, it’s important I listen to that advice.
“I intend to use this time to recover fully from my injury, so I can be ready to hit the ground running when pre-season training starts later this summer.”
England will travel to face South Africa to face the Springboks in test matches on three consecutive weekends in June. Eddie Jones and his side will be under pressure to perform in those tests, having suffered defeat in three of their five Six Nations clashes this year.
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