'Cockers has been giving me the eyes of, 'Any danger this week?'
Loosehead Joe Marler has explained he has been busy on the England training ground at Pennyhill Park this week to ensure he won’t ever again make a disastrous emergency lineout throw while part of the Eddie Jones set-up. With hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie sin-binned, play continued at Murrayfield last Saturday with Jones opting not to bring on sub hooker Jamie George and sacrifice a back-rower.
This decision resulted in prop Marler taking on the throwing duty at a lineout inside the England 22 with the game level at 17-all. The 31-year-old made a mess of his throw, delaying the release of the ball from his hands, and it led to the catcher, Alex Dombrandt, crossing the five-metre line and being too close to Marler when catching the ball.
It resulted in Scotland being awarded a free-kick, which they opted to pack down with, and they went on to win a penalty at the scrum which Finn Russell successfully kicked to shunt Scotland into a 20-17 lead that England were then unable to reel back in and it left them beaten in their opening round Guinness Six Nations game.
Asked on Wednesday afternoon at an England media briefing if he was now busy practising his throwing on the training ground in case an emergency such as last Saturday’s incident ever arose again, Marler humorously replied: “Ya bastard. Yes, I have been practising every day. Cockers [Richard Cockerill] has been giving me the eyes of ‘right alright, any danger this week?’ And I was, ‘right, okay, fine’.”
Marler explained why he had been nominated as the emergency England thrower with no specialist hooker on the field of play. “It goes to the nominated person to do that role,” he said. “I just didn’t throw it at the right time.
“I should have thrown it earlier at Dombrandt. Unfortunately, I throw it later and he kept running past the five-metre with the eyes of ‘mate, why are you not throwing the ball at me?’ And I went, ‘I don’t know, I feel like Eminem in 8 Mile when he chokes on stage with his rap’. That is how I felt.”
Marler also revealed that it was his second time ever throwing into a lineout in his 75-cap Test career with England. “Unfortunately, my international record is now down to 50 per cent because it was at 100 per cent,” he quipped.
“In my third ever Test against South Africa away in 2012 Dylan Hartley got sin-binned, I threw it to Geoff Parling in the pod, he won the ball. I had a 100 per cent throwing record. Unfortunately, it is down to 50 per cent and now I can’t be really smug with Joe Gray at Harlequins saying I have a better throw record than him. That was the last time.”
The reason why England had Cowan-Dickie sin-binned last weekend in Edinburgh was because he had illegally batted the ball into touch following a crosskick, an error that saw him yellow-carded and Scotland awarded a score-levelling penalty try.
Cowan-Dickie took to Twitter in the aftermath to apologise and it drew a response from Marler who jokingly called his front-rower colleague ‘a helmet’ for ruining his 100 per cent throwing record at Test level.
Marler’s tongue-in-cheek message was accompanied by a heart emoji and he has reported that Cowan-Dickie has bounced back on the training ground this week. “He has been good. Everyone has got different ways of wanting to deal with it.
“I was like, ‘Mate, I don’t think you need to apologise like that’. But he felt the need that he did. He is a very emotional guy and he took a little bit of time to wallow in it and think about what he could have done better, but he has been back on the paddock training, getting stuck into the next one and being his chirpy self which is good to see.”
Reflecting on the general nature of the three-point loss to Scotland, Marler added: “I was very disappointed with losing as close as we did. It was disappointing and I don’t feel overly great about it, but I am looking forward to tucking in this week and hopefully picking up the learnings of that last 20 minutes.”
What were those learnings? “Probably throw a little bit further than three-and-a-half metres. Probably do some throwing work this week or just pick someone else to do it. And also we have had chats today [Wednesday] about what we could have potentially done better in those situations but again hindsight is a wonderful thing.
“We could go, we should have done that and we should have done that but in the heat of the moment we didn’t get that right so hopefully now we have had the conversations, if we are in the heat of the moment of those situations again we can get it right.”
Marler was delayed joining up with the England squad ahead of their round one opener, missing the training week in Brighton after he tested positive for covid for the second time in eleven weeks. “I didn’t get away with any mid-afternoon naps in my house,” he said about his period of isolation at home on this occasion.
“My missus took it as a very good opportunity of, ‘you’re home now, cool. There is baby one, there is baby two’. The first time I struggled, I probably underestimated it a little bit back in the autumn. Chest was struggling for a little while after that but this time back in Brighton, I think from the testing it might have been the omicron variant and it is well known that it is slightly milder and I didn’t suffer as much.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Pot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
19 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
4 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
2 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to commentsIs Barrett going play full back??? They already have all the centers…
15 Go to commentsForgive my ignorance, I might not fully understand so would appreciate clarification: Didn’t the Bulls have to fly with three different carriers, paid for by the South African Rugby Union, whilst Edinburgh got a chartered flight sponsored by EPCR? Also, as far as I understand it South African teams don’t yet share in the revenue from the competition and are not allowed to host Semi-finals or Finals at home. Surely if everyone wants South Africans to “take the competition seriously” then they must make South Africans feel welcome, allow them to share in the revenue, and give them the same levels of access as the teams from the other countries. Just a reminder that South Africa has a large and passionate Rugby audience. Just by virtue of our teams being a part of these competitions means that more of us are likely to watch the knockout games, even if our teams haven’t qualified. It would be silly to alienate such a large audience by making them feel unwelcome.
19 Go to commentsFirst of all. This guy is very much behind the curve. All the bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning took place days ago already. Not adding anything to the topic other than more bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning. 🍼 Second of all, not one mention of the fact that South African teams can’t get home semi finals or finals. The tournament was undermined and devalued by the administrators. 🤡 Thirdly, football teams often have to juggle selections in mid week games, premier games, champions league games etc. and will from time to time prioritize certain titles over others. 🐒 And lastly FEK Neil, and anyone else for that matter, for insisting on telling teams how to manage themselves. If they make what is largely a business decision that suits them and doesn’t suit you - tough shite. 💩 It’s not rocket science as to why the Bulls did what they did. If this guy is too slow to figure it out (and is deliberately not mentioning one of the key reasons why) then he isn’t a journalist. He should join the rest of us pundit plebs in comments section. 🥴
19 Go to commentsSo the first door to knock on Rob is Parliament followed by HMRC. The Irish Revenue deliver a 40% tax relief rebate on the HIGHEST EARNING TEN YEARS of every pro Irish rugby players contract earnings at retirement. That goes a long way to both retaining their best talent and freeing up wages for marquee players. Who knows, if that had been in place in the UK, you might not have been able to poach Hoggy and Jonny Gray from Glasgow…!!!
3 Go to comments1. True, if that “free” ticket means access to all but the prized exhibit - EVIP only. SA cannot host semis, even if they’ve earned it (see Sharks vs ASM Clermont Auvergne at… Twickenham Stoop). 2. Why no selective outrage over Lyon doing the exact same thing a week earlier? Out of all the countries France send the most “B teams”, why nobody talking about “disrespect” and “prioritising domestic leagues” and “kicking them out”? 3. Why no mention of the Sharks fielding all of their Springboks for the second rate Challenge cup QF? No commitment? 4. Why no mention of all the SA teams qualifying for respective euro knock out comps in the two seasons they’ve been in it? How many euro teams have qualified for KO’s in their history? Can’t compete? 5. Why no mention of SA teams beating French and English giants La Rochelle and Saracens? How many euro teams have done that in their history? Add no quality? The fact is that SA teams are only in their second season in europe, with no status and a fraction of the resources. Since joining the URC, SA has seen a repatriation of a number of players, and this will only grow once SA start sharing in the profits of competing in these comps, meaning bigger squads with greater depth and quality, meaning they don’t have to prioritise comps as they have to now - they don’t have imports from Pacifica and South America and everywhere else in between like “European” teams have - also less “Saffas” in Prem and T14, that’s what we want right? 'If the South Africans are in, they need to be all in' True, and we have to ensure we give them the same status and resources as we give everyone else to do just that. A small compromise on scheduling will go a long way in avoiding these situations, but guess what, France and England wont compromise on scheduling because they ironically… prioritise their domestic comps, go figure!
19 Go to commentsthe success of the premiership can be summarized by : only 10 teams. It makes a huge difference with the overcrowded top 14 (let us not talk about Leinster and URC…)
1 Go to commentsGood for him. The ABs were fooling around again with converted fullbacks that had a penetration of a marshmallow. Laumape or as Aki has shown for Ireland, go forward is important in the centres. If it had been DMac - Aki- Aumua - Ioane- Telea- Jordan in France the final result would have been different.
4 Go to commentsDan Carter a apporté son professionnalisme, des méthodes de travail, un esprit qui manquaient à l’USAP. Son influence, même une fois blessé a été énorme. Et pour citer une anecdote, certains soirs il venait de lui-même à l’entraînement des jeunes pour dispenser ses conseils. On ne peut pas compter ce qu’il a apporté au club en heures de jeu sur le terrain. Est-ce que le club en a eu pour son argent ? Avec la publicité sur son nom et le titre, je suppose que oui.
1 Go to commentsThe SA sides are suffering from a bum rap here. There isn’t a side anywhere in the world that would do things differently in their shoes. They’ve been set up to fail in the EPCR comps by vested interests, with last minute intercontinental travel requirements that costs an arm and a leg to book in advance just on the possibility they might be required. And the total nonsense that denies any chance of home venues is entirely biased and absolutely unsporting. Either EPCR, the Top14 & the Gallagher Premiership get it sorted on a fair and equitable sporting basis for ALL participants or expect the ridicule to continue. Right now, these comps are a joke!
19 Go to commentsSA sides should do the right thing and leave the champions cup, they are lowering the standard with completely one sided games, not up to the right level. The greatest club tournament in the world is being banjaxed by the weak SA sides.
19 Go to commentsCouldnt agree more. SA sides need to show more committment and really have a go at the Champions Cup. Its quite possibly the most prestigious title in Europe and SA sides need to respect that prestige and serve up their best. EPCR needs to do more to ensure that sides from South Africa and sides travelling to and from SA have a better chance in this competition. The Bulls were put in a really difficult position of having to travel there and back in one week. One could argue that this is what the SA sides signed up for and that La Rochelle didnt complain or send out weakened sides despite having to travel to SA and back and play on successive weekends but surely the situation is also unfair on La Rochelle as well and so EPCR needs to think about successive gameweeks and the travel effect of the competition
19 Go to comments