Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints: Dylan Hartley tackles his demons as he enters Tigers den Leicester-Northampton matches generate heat in normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances. The Premiership final was explosive, the rugby was brutal and exhilarating, the injury toll significant with Toby Flood levelled by Courtney Lawes and the fallout significant with Hartley sent off and banned for 11 weeks, two weeks longer than the suspension handed out to Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill for his angry touchline remonstrations. Hartley suffered for his sins. He let down his team-mates, who had to soldier on for the entire second half without him, and he did his own international prospects considerable harm too. England head coach Stuart Lancaster has previous when it comes to dealing with miscreants. Hartley has been duly admonished. All of which adds a tantalising edge to Saturday's proceedings. Hartley, 27, is a fiery player, a prerequisite for the position in which he plays. His opposite number, Youngs, is no soft touch, either. The pair are direct rivals for the England No 2 shirt. Hartley's transgression has enabled Youngs to move clear in those rankings, enjoying a solid Lions tour while Hartley served his penance. Hartley is a bright bloke. He knows he stuffed up. He knows that the rugby world will be peering in to see if he loses it again. He knows that Lancaster and the England management will be keeping a close eye on proceedings. He knows all this, and that is why he is not hung up about it. "It is probably easier for me because it is that obvious," said Hartley, who conceded at the start of the season that he was on his "last chance" as far as England were concerned. Youngs is in the box seat and is acknowledged as such by Hartley. Yet he knows that these high-octane occasions shape perceptions. This is a chance to prosper as much as it is to risk another meltdown. "It is up to me to press my case for a spot," said Hartley. I accept Tom is first choice at the moment and the front-runner for the No 2 shirt. I am in the [England] squad, I am part of that team, but you have got to understand your place sometimes. In the same breath, though, I want to get back into that England team. The rivalry does not carry the raw overtones that once infused the Brian Moore-Graham Dawe battle for the England shirt but it is intense nonetheless. "I don't go round Tom's house for Sunday roast or anything but the relationship is professional and friendly," said Hartley. Northampton have backed their man, and consistently so. There was a clamour, even within the town, to strip him of the captaincy in the wake of the final. Hartley himself gave serious consideration to taking what he called a "gap year" away from rugby. All this pressure, all this scrutiny - it is the perfect scenario for Hartley. He showed that two years ago in Cardiff when Wales head coach Warren Gatland tried to unsettle him with several pointed remarks questioning Hartley's temperament ahead of a Six Nations match. Hartley rose to the challenge rather than to the bait. He is at his best when the gaze is at its fiercest. Gatland had the grace to shake Hartley's hand after and admit that he had been wrong to think there was a fault line of weakness there. With the likes of Tom Wood in the Northampton squad it would not have been that surprising if Saints" director of rugby Jim Mallinder had returned Hartley to the ranks. But Mallinder admires the energy, the honesty and the intelligence that Hartley brings to the role. Northampton will need all those qualities to be on parade at Welford Road if they are to arrest a run of eight defeats there. "Dylan is our leader on and off the field, and he was the right man for the job," said Mallinder. We need those leadership qualities on Saturday, definitely. We have got to play on the very edge but not go over it. Dylan will be fine. He will be full-on, as will all our team. A moment of redemption for Hartley, a defining opportunity for Northampton, there is far more at stake than mere league points. There is mettle to be tested, and Hartley intends to be an upstanding Saint rather than a sinner.