Jamie George says he has “no hard feelings” towards Dylan Hartley after being on the receiving end of a head-butt that cost Northampton’s firebrand captain his World Cup chance.

– Transformed Cipriani proves he’s big-game player
– #Quiz360: Monday’s Teasers – WIN Vivitar Action Camera
– On the radar, June 1-7: President’s Cup final, NSL finals & more

Uncapped hooker George has replaced Hartley in England’s 50-man World Cup training squad, and he celebrated his call-up by scoring one try and creating another as Saracens were crowned Aviva Premiership champions by beating Bath 28-16 at Twickenham.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster reacted swiftly to Hartley’s four-week ban, imposed following his citing for the George incident during a Premiership semi-final clash, by removing him from World Cup contention.

Hartley, who has an appalling disciplinary record, cannot play again until after England’s World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18, and George will now report for pre-tournament training duty in three weeks’ time alongside fellow hookers Tom Youngs, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Rob Webber.

“You have to feel for him,” George said. “It is very difficult circumstances that he has got himself in. I have no hard feelings towards him. It was in the heat of the moment and it was something I am sure he will regret. But it has given me this opportunity and I am going to try and take it as well as I can.

“I am just going to get my head down and try to work as hard as I can. Hopefully, I can develop as a player and if that happens then anything can happen. I can’t control selection and all the rest of it, but what I can control is trying to develop myself, trying to develop the way I play and learn from the amazing people around me.”

It is barely a fortnight since 24-year-old George failed to make Lancaster’s first squad but the contrast of emotions could hardly be greater.

“Mark McCall (Saracens rugby director) rang me after the semi-final and said it was going to be announced I was going to be in the squad and how proud he was of me. That was one of the best phone calls I have ever received,” George said.