[4] He attended Rotorua Boys' High School Although Hartley was born and grew up in New Zealand, his mother being English automatically made him England-qualified.

[23][24] Hartley was selected for the British and Irish Lions 2013 tour to Australia but missed it due to being banned after his red card sending off in the Premiership Final.

[27] In April 2007 Hartley was banned for 26 weeks for making contact with the eye of Wasps forwards James Haskell and Jonny O'Connor.

The ban dealt an even bigger blow for Hartley as his hopes of joining the England World Cup squad were dashed and his club Northampton Saints were relegated in the same week.

[28] Hartley saw his second ban come 5 years later in March 2012, 8 weeks for biting the finger of Ireland forward Stephen Ferris in a Six Nations match.

[30] In May 2013 Hartley was sent off in the Aviva Premiership final against Leicester and banned for 11 weeks after being found guilty of verbally abusing a match official.

In May 2015, Hartley was found guilty of making contact with the head of opposite number Jamie George in the semi-final English premiership loss to Saracens at Franklin's Gardens.

[34] In December 2016, Hartley was banned for 6 weeks having caught Leinster Rugby player Sean O'Brien with a swinging arm to the back of the head in a European Champions Cup game.