Dylan Hartley could well be the long term answer to England's hooker dilemma, although he's not your typical England front row. If Hartley appears to have more Sean Fitzpatrick about him than Brian Moore, it's because he was born and raised in Rotorua, New Zealand, and possesses all of the handling skills associated with learning the game there.

Hartley was introduced to England's age grade academies during a long holiday with cousins in Sussex. While there he came to the attention of Graham Smith of the Worcester Warriors academy and was persuaded to make his switch to England permanent.

At the time Hartley was playing as a loose-head prop, and finding opportunities limited due to the depth of talent in New Zealand he jumped at the chance to join the Premiership side's academy.

Hartley has represented England at U18, U-19 and U-21 level, where he provided cover for all three front row positions during the 2005 IRB World Championships in Argentina. His conversion to hooker came in 2005 when Budge Poutney, then director of rugby at Northampton, convinced him to move to Franklin's Gardens.

There he was immediately transformed, securing starts in the Guinness Premiership despite his astounding lack of experience in the position. Hartley continued to work his way through the England ranks, winning a call up to the England Saxons squad in 2007.

He was widely expected to play some part in England's build up to the 2007 World Cup, if not at the tournament itself, but in April 2007 he was hit with a 26 week ban for gouging former U21 team-mate James Haskell and Irish international Jonny O'Connor during a Premiership game with Wasps.

Hartley's actions brought scorn not only from the authorities but also the wider rugby community, who saw his inexperience as little justification for such a dangerous and serious offence.

His return to the Northampton side was in National League One, and a string of strong performances under the tutelage of former England hooker and Northampton forwards coach Dorian West led to his re-emergence as a genuine international level talent.

Hartley's good form was rewarded with a slot in Martin Johnson's elite player squad in 2008, a sure sign that his future with England is being monitored closely by the powers that be.

At the moment Hartley remains as one of the few players in the squad without a cap, a statistic that he will be pushing to remedy come the autumn internationals against the southern hemisphere giants.

He returned to the Guinness Premiership with a bang, scoring Northampton's first try of the 2008-09 campaign from the bench against Worcester. After helping the Saints to the European Challenge Cup title later in the season he made his first starts for England, in the two-Test series against Argentina.

Hartley was handed the Saints' captaincy for the 2009-10 season. Going into the 2010-11 season, Hartley was a key component of the Saints side which reached the Heineken Cup final and the Premiership semi-finals. However, they lost out on both occasions.

On the international scene, Hartley started all five of England's games during their victorious 2011 Six Nations campaign but was second-choice behind Steve Thompson for England's disappointing World Cup campaign.

In December 2011 Hartley extended his contract with Northampton Saints until 2015. And, following Thompson's retirement, he took on the starting No.2 shirt for the 2012 Six Nations. However the tournament ended on a sour note when he was cited for allegedly biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris.

Hartley was hit with an eight-week suspension but was still named in England's 42-man squad for the tour of South Africa.