Hartley happy to have Saints team-mate Courtney calling the shots for England

Dylan Hartley praised Saints team-mate Courtney Lawes after England’s 31-12 win over Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday.
SUPERB SHOW - Dylan Hartley was England's man of the match against ArgentinaSUPERB SHOW - Dylan Hartley was England's man of the match against Argentina
SUPERB SHOW - Dylan Hartley was England's man of the match against Argentina

The Northampton duo combined to good effect in the lineout as the Red Rose built a solid set-piece platform in an impressive performance.

Tries from Joe Launchbury, Billy Twelvetrees, Chris Ashton and Ben Morgan made it two wins from two this autumn following the previous week’s success against Australia.

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Lofty lock Lawes has done well in both games, stepping up to make lineout calls with experienced Leicester Tigers forward Geoff Parling out of the starting 15.

And hooker Hartley, who was named man of the match against Argentina, was quick to hail his club-mate’s impact.

“We got nine out of 10 lineouts right in the first half and Courtney Lawes admitted the one we lost was a bad call so I’ll take that,” said Hartley.

“The ball was a bit greasy out there so I’m really happy and Courtney Lawes has really grown into that lineout calling role.”

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And on the overall England performance against the Pumas, Hartley said: “We talked about going up a gear from Australia, lessons learned and in the first half we fired out of the blocks.

“We scored three tries and quite a big statement from us early on was kicking to the corner and driving a proud pack like Argentina over. That was a big statement.

“Then, we scored another couple but a quality side like Argentina aren’t going to roll over and they came out and put us under pressure in the second half.

“But we closed the game out well with our defensive linespeed.”

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Hartley was one of six Saints players to play their part with Lawes, Tom Wood, Lee Dickson and Ben Foden also starting and Alex Corbisiero emerging from the bench.

Elsewhere, George North started for Wales in their pulsating 24-15 defeat to South Africa at the Millennium Stadium, with Leigh Halfpenny’s boot providing all the home team’s points.

And there was also Saints representation in Dublin, where George Pisi and Kahn Fotuali’i started in Samoa’s 40-9 defeat to Ireland.

Pisi was sin-binned for a tip-tackle on Tommy Bowe late in the first half, but skipper Fotuali’i got himself on the scoresheet with a second-half penalty.