'His durability is outstanding': How Harlequins have reaped the huge benefit of Joe Marler's England no-show
When the RFU conducts its review of the abysmal Guinness Six Nations championship, one factor under consideration is going to be the Covid bubble restrictions and whether they were too severe. The restrictions did for Joe Marler as an England player in 2021.
Although chosen in the original 28-man squad on January 22, the 72-cap prop decided that the lack of movement in and out of camp wasn’t for him given his busy family situation, three children and another one on the way.
By January 25, it was made public that Marler was dropping out of the England squad and he went with the blessing of Eddie Jones who said at the time, “Joe has made a decision that we 100 per cent support.
“When he decides to make himself available again we will have another look at selection. And that’s how we look at it – 100 per cent. No ifs or buts, it’s as clear as day. There will be some time in the future when he is ready to come back and will get selected. We will take that when it comes.”
The irony about what subsequently unfolded was that while England struggled for pack momentum, an issue visible in how outplayed Mako Vunipola and Ellis Genge both were in Dublin last Saturday in the final round of an awkward championship, Marler has been enjoying a rich vein of form back at Harlequins.
"The amount of s*** they were having in the autumn, how crap Wales were. I’m thinking well, we’re not that crap" https://t.co/5FqgcjH2Ye
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 23, 2021
England’s loss was very much his club’s gain, Marler reeling off eight appearances, seven straight starts, 537 minutes of action in a run where Quins have reaped six wins and leapt up to third place on the table despite losing head of rugby Paul Gustard in January. Assistant coach Adam Jones has been thrilled with watching the loosehead, who turns 31 in July, hit top form at a time of the year when he usually unavailable to Harlequins and busy with England.
“If you any team in the Premiership if they want a Six Nations block with Joe Marler in their team, then you’d want him. For me, he is one of the top five scrummagers in world rugby, not even Premiership. He is outstanding, an outstanding scrummaging loosehead.
“You align that with getting Matt Symons back fit and Wilco Louw finding his feet now in the Premiership, the different ways the scrum is up here, Marler has been massive and it’s been good to have him in. He can be an interesting character but he has been fantastic and we were glad to have him and he is rubbing off with the young kids as well and you can see the influence he has got on the team.
A former Test-playing prop himself for Wales, Jones knows the demands on time that come with being an international standard player and he has the utmost admiration for how Marler has handled his current situation. “Family comes first, his wife is pregnant, he has got three other kids.
“I’m sure it was a tough call for him but it’s probably magnified how you have to isolate and how your time in (England) camp is a bit different now in the Covid. He has done the right decision by his family which is the most important thing and we are reaping the benefits.
“He’s fit as a fiddle,” added Jones, referencing the hefty number of minutes Marler has played in recent months for Harlequins. “He looks after himself. He is incredibly professional, he has got his own gym and looks after himself really well.
“I know he is a big f***er but he looks after himself really well. His durability is outstanding and he’s digging in. Even when he shouldn’t be digging in he will dig in injury-wise which probably isn’t sometimes the way of the modern-day rugby player, but he will go through a bit of pain to play and we’ll pick him because is a world-class rugby player.”
RugbyPass Offload EP 22 with Jack Nowell ?
We have Jack on the podcast! ?
Jack joins Zeebs, Christina & Jamie to discuss the crazy Six Nations weekend ?
We cover England rugby & Eddie Jones as well as our Lions XV on current form! ?
?? – https://t.co/8IoxCC8p0H pic.twitter.com/gzv1CxjLc6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 24, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Minicamp rules include no-pads and no tackling.
1 Go to commentsToulouse has enough quality players so no headaches 😁 Choco is rarely a starting centre. Throughout this championship there have been far worse actions that were never called… too many rules, too many rule changes, too many inconsistencies, too many angry fans. I'm not surprised rugby does not attract new spectators, how could they understand 🤣
6 Go to commentsAh yes Andy with his “Goode” views. Oke might as well come out and say it, “I like seeing South African scrums depowered in order to give the rest of the world a chance”. Somehow he thinks World Rugby always knew about calling scrums from marks and it just so happened to coincide with Damien Willemse’s call that they decided to change the rules. Ah come on, if he can't see it then he needs prescription glasses. No ways, they are doing this for the betterment of Rugby. They want to clamp down on Rassie’s innovative skills than encouraging coaches to think outside of the box to try new things. What they can't count on is what Rassie will plan next. I almost get the impression that once Rassie retires World Rugby is going to be scrabbling around trying to find their identity. Currently set at ARP (Anti-Rassie Party). Although I don't really care in that regard because they always a RWC step behind.
7 Go to commentsWow ten years since they had a backing and more from the paying public I’d also mention that as a blues man and in walking distance to the garden I’d say that this team and Vern Cotter have got us dreaming beautiful thoughts and the merit is there from numbers 1 to 23 but we would like to think this is the new dna for the ABs and a pack weighing 940kg dry y not I hasten to add it seems patty has to stay fit cause he is the driver the main driver and they follow plus the pipe man H Plummer is conducting his own orchestra ….. Beethoven anybody
1 Go to commentsJuicy stuff well covered I’d go as far as to say that the referee was a key component in keeping it a tasty spectacle
1 Go to commentsCotter has added that steel that has been missing. Let's see if it will carry until the Finals… Come on the Blues ….
2 Go to commentsAndy Goode just loves to be controversial. Its boring. Let’s all stop reading.
7 Go to commentsYou have got to consider that if the situation was flipped and the French were held to a salary cap with no English equivalent, the English would laugh in their faces and tell them to get over it. As for Leinster (as a fan), the central contract system is a dream but is guilty of cutting out the other 3 provinces. At the end of the day, it comes across outside of the English border that the Premiership is drowning and trying to take everyone else with it rather than adapt. The English lose, the English want new rules. We've seen this repeat (and once it even led to the current Champions Cup) You make many good and informed points, but if the flip was on the other flop, it wouldn't be Rugby’s problem I suspect - it would be a French one.
17 Go to commentsSeems to have been a bright start but it tailed off. To win the big matches you have to get used to putting your foot on the throttle and your opponent’s necks in an 80 minutes performance which is what the All Blacks were renowned for. An example in the Women’s game is England v Ireland in the 6N match played at Twickenham in April. Watch on YouTube.
1 Go to commentsBobby has been a first grade bonehead since high school. Like a true Cape Tonian, his own reflection is more important than anything else.
1 Go to commentsNo comment on the textbook red card for Ramm that was just ignored? Amazing that
4 Go to commentsThese rule changes have been implemented with good intentions, but much like every other rule change focus on isolated symptoms instead of the root cause. If you cannot croc roll, and cannot risk any head contact with a front on clear out, it is not clear how you are supposed to lawfully clear someone out who is attempting a jackal. This will backfire massively and lead to substantially more kicking. Teams will simply not want to take the ball into contact. Or it will lead to even more dangerous methods to clear players out who are over the ball. I much prefer having the set piece on a 30 second shot clock over no scrum on a short arm infringement. Resets are not a problem in themselves, but 90 second water and tactics breaks before every scrum are a big problem. Trainers constantly coming on to the field to help players pull their socks up and delaying the game are a problem. DuPont law was a blight on the game and should have been changed the day after it was first implemented.
79 Go to commentsAh yes, the opinion of Andy Goode… Andy Goode, the man who knows what some of the Irish players said to Eben Etzebeth after the QF, better than what Eben himself knows. And, judging by this piece, the Grandmaster of clichés.
7 Go to commentsI think this is a fair view. As a South African I am concerned about the depowering of the scrum but let’s be honest, until the SA vs FRA quarter many people didn’t even know you could take a scrum from a free kick. As you say it’s going to come down to interpretation… until then we don’t really know how this is going to impact the game. That would lead to my own objection. Do the unknowns of changing a law outweigh the cons of said law. With such an obscure law that most people had never heard of, one that had never really had an impact on the game in the first place is it worth changing to invite so much uncertainty. Better the devil you know then the devil you don’t as it were…
7 Go to comments162 comments so far and counting. i didn't realize that rugby fans are on the way to join the football brothers. what is the point to share personal opinion only to get all this shi*? it seems IRB bosses are doing the great job by killing the spirit of the game both on and outside the pitch. too sad, indeed. btw, was there anything on eben’s point of view from the boys in green, who he mentioned?
164 Go to commentsJob done guys. Great win in a game where things can quickly go wrong.
1 Go to commentsAlex Sanderson fantastic coach and person .So pleased he has signed another contract great days ahead for Sale under his leadership.
1 Go to commentsAndy Goode cant kick to 12
164 Go to commentsDoxed himself. Great work Johnny. You are well suited to the Saders
1 Go to comments_Best game players _
2 Go to comments