‘You can dwell on it and wonder why me… but that’s not going to get you very far’: OLLY HARTLEY on his horror knee injury, why Saracens will shine this season, his England dream and upping his Instagram game

With a mother who mingles in the celebrity world and a father who once gave Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott a run for their money, Olly Hartley is in a family used to being around high-profile figures. And this season, Hartley Jr is hoping to make a name for himself in his own right.

At Saracens, Hartley has England captain Maro Itoje and Lions stars Jamie George, Owen Farrell and Ben Earl as team-mates, though it is in a far glitzier world that one of his parents works. 

‘My mum, Nicky, is a commercial agent. She’s working on a podcast with Sir Bill Beaumont and Ian Botham at the moment,’ Hartley tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘She’s worked getting celebrity guests for I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Big Brother. 

She’s in that sort of crowd and always tells me I need to up my Instagram game! I tell her: “You’re dealing with big celebrities in the media world. I’m in rugby!”’

With a little over 3,000 followers, Hartley hasn’t yet reached A-list status, though his on-field ability means he could soon. After recovering from a horrific knee injury, the centre is ready to make an impact when Saracens kick-off their PREM campaign at Leicester on Sunday. 

A strong-running midfielder who is far more than just a provider of brute force, Hartley has impressed new Saracens boss Brendan Venter and attack coach Dai Flanagan in pre-season.

‘I always used to think it was just not going to happen for me,’ says Hartley, who was in the Wasps academy before the club went into administration. ‘It’s been injury after injury after what happened with Wasps. But that’s driven me more and pushed me on. I didn’t want to be someone who just tailed away or let injury get the better of him.’

Hartley’s father Gary – also a midfielder – had a successful career with Nottingham and went on to coach the club. He represented England A too, but never won a senior cap as he couldn’t usurp the legendary combination of Carling and Guscott. Hartley has represented England A in the modern era. ‘I would love to go one better,’ he says. ‘And I think my dad would too.’

Hartley, 24, has had to build up a wealth of resilience in his short career to date. When Wasps disappeared from the PREM in 2022 before he had played a senior game, Hartley and a host of other players were forced to find pastures new. 

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Alfie Barbeary, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Charlie Atkinson, Greg Fisilau and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White are all former Wasps now scattered across the league. And brothers Jack and Tom Willis are excelling in France. 

Hartley has reunited with Barbeary in north London for this season after the latter joined from Bath as a replacement for Tom Willis.

‘I still remember it happening, but at the time I didn’t believe it,’ Hartley says, looking back at Wasps’ demise four years ago. ‘It wasn’t until the older guys like Dan Robson and the Willis boys told us it was done that it sunk in. We were Wasps. Such a historic club. It was a strange time.’

It’s hard not to think about the team Wasps might have today had they survived. But the reality is they – like Worcester and London Irish – did not and their star players had to move on.

The fact Hartley has already brought up 50 appearances in a star-studded Saracens squad and made an impression on the England management is all the more impressive given that in April 2024 he suffered a blow that could well have ended his career. 

Hartley ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, also tearing his posterior cruciate ligament and meniscus cartilage. His knee required a complete reconstruction. The road back looked lengthy.

But after seeking the advice of Jack Willis – who had experienced similar pain – and giving up alcohol, Hartley returned in just seven months. ‘It was bad,’ Hartley says. ‘The positive was I returned very quickly. On the other hand, there was a question over whether I did it too quickly.

‘But I’ve no regrets. It’s weird – as a young player, you just get on with it. You can sit and dwell on it and wonder why it’s happened to you, but that’s not going to get you very far.’

It was at the end of last season that Hartley really started to fire again as Saracens mounted a late play-off push. Having represented England A against Portugal prior to his knee injury, Hartley has seen midfield rivals Seb Atkinson and Max Ojomoh win senior caps while he has fought to get back to his best. 

But the Whitgift School product remains very much on the radar of national coach Steve Borthwick and his attack chief Lee Blackett. A strong start to the new campaign would put him in a good position to earn further England A selection or maybe more. A year out from the World Cup, one of England’s biggest problems at senior level is their lack of midfield clarity.

Borthwick’s side looks ripe for disruption by some young, fearless upstarts. In Hartley and wing Noah Caluori, among others, Saracens have several young dynamos as they begin a new era under the returning maverick that is Venter. They have recruited well too with England enforcer George Martin, Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams and Barbeary their headline arrivals. 

‘My dad had to retire at 27 – he broke his oesophagus,’ Hartley says. ‘He’d always tell me he was better than Carling and Guscott! He gives me advice. Sometimes, I take it on board. Sometimes, I don’t! 

‘We’ve got lots of good young players and Welford Road is one of the toughest places to go in the PREM, so it’s a great first test. I’m excited to get back on the pitch and build on the momentum we finished last season with, both personally and as a team.’

Once the league’s dominant force, Saracens haven’t won the PREM since 2023 and with George and Farrell nearing the end of their careers, the onus is on the likes of Hartley to step forward. Mark McCall, who led the club to six league titles and three European Cups, has stepped back after 15 years in charge, allowing Venter to return and take the reins.

Beefed up by Martin – who is absent for the return to his former club on Sunday – Saracens have a pack that should be able to compete with the best in the league and with the addition of the livewire Williams, an enterprising back-line too. 

Venter has tried to forge a great team spirit at the club, with regular squad barbecues and on their trip to Cornwall, even a beach cricket match. 

Don’t be surprised if Saracens get back to their best this term. If they do and Hartley plays a starring role, maybe his mum’s Instagram wish will happen organically after all.