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England player bike crash revealed in Joe Marler's World Cup review
England prop Joe Marler has delivered a brilliantly entertaining Rugby World Cup review on his eponymously named podcast, The Joe Marler Show. The veteran loosehead enjoyed a fantastic campaign, culminating in his selection to start in the semi-final versus South Africa in Paris.
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His set-piece play on the night was excellent in getting England in front and it was only after he and tighthead Dan Cole had exited that the Springboks began to gain the dominance that ultimately resulted in an infringement from Ellis Genge which allowed Handre Pollard to kick the long-range 78th-minute penalty that left Steve Borthwick’s team beaten 16-15.
Marler is now back in England and he featured in Saturday’s Gallager Premiership match between his club Harlequins and Newcastle at The Stoop.
He has also recorded a podcast special reflecting on the World Cup and his multitude of stories included reflections on his bizarre headed try assist versus Japan, his off-the-ball semi-final clash with Faf de Klerk, his delight that England’s finished in third place after their ropey build-up to the tournament, his special moments with fellow prop Cole and roommate Danny Care… and also the revelation that Elliot Daly crashed his e-bike on a night out.
Let’s start with that high-jinx crash. “They had these unique flavoured Cheetos,” he mentioned to podcast host Tom Fordyce when asked about his uniquely French experiences. “I remember picking them up on a Lime bike midway through a night out with Elliot Daly. We got about six bags of Cheetos, an ice lolly and a bottle of rum.
Set Plays 
7
Scrums
8
43%
Scrum Win %
88%
10
Lineout
19
70%
Lineout Win %
79%
6
Restarts Received
6
100%
Restarts Received Win %
83%
“We were on these Lime bikes trying to get to the next bar/club. He’s gone scooting on and I’ve lost him and the next thing I hear is just, ‘Argh’. I come over and all I see is Elliot Daly on the floor surrounded by four or five people asking if he is alright, his bike has crashed. He had managed to crash into the back of a parked van. I was, ‘What the fuck?’ He was, ‘That van came out of nowhere’. I’m, ‘It’s parked’!”
Switching to his header against Japan, who had England spooked at the time in Nice, Marler quipped: “It’s a ridiculous rule that that’s play on. How the f*** can the ball hit someone’s head, go forward, pick it up and you can score?”
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He added he hadn’t a clue that this was allowed. “No, I had no idea. I just thought that Will Stuart was inside me and he should have been slightly deeper, a few steps back, and the ball was going to go across him and put me in a hole and I would have scored under the sticks for my very first international try.
“He f***ed up in the way I couldn’t see the ball coming and it’s gone straight on the bonce forward. Everyone stopped. Courtney (Lawes) picked it up because he did know the rule and he went and touched it down.”
Changing tack, Marler recalled having South Africa’s de Klerk tackle him without the ball inside the England half during the second half of the semi-final. “Reverse the roles, I tackle him off the ball, he is getting flattened and it’s a penalty. He tackles me off the ball and what the f*** (referee Ben) O’Keeffe, where’s the pen? Just because it was insignificant and I could barely f***ing feel it, the case is it was a penalty.”
Getting chosen to start in that clash with the Springboks left Marler chuffed. “I was buzzing that I managed to get the chance to start a game as big as that. The game plan we went in with suited me down to a tee. It was set-piece to set-piece, walk, kick the f***ing leather off of it, then more set-piece and then hopefully we will have enough.
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“But I was more pleased for Dan. He wouldn’t have thought about it openly but it would have been at the back of his mind that four years ago he was, in my opinion, hung out to dry a bit for being responsible but there was a lot going on in that scrum and not just that side.
“Also, he wasn’t the one that got skinned by (Cheslin) Kolbe, so I actually f***ed it up and then was happy for him to take the blame for four years. You could sense in him that the redemption he got from that performance was a nice moment and he sort of felt after the game, ‘Right, I can actually finish on a bit more respect than what had happened four years ago’.”
Brighton football, 2003 England winning ugly, padel with Borthwick, Chile minnows and more…
– 7?? minute Joe Marler mixed zone interview as bizarre as his headed England assist, writes Liam Heagney in Nice ???#ENGvJPN #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 https://t.co/y52lsLLLaV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 19, 2023
Moving onto the heaps of criticism England received for their blunt style of play, Marler said: “After the Japan game I was asked about Olivier Magne saying, ‘Ugly England’. I first took that as, ‘Yeah you’re right, we’re not the best-looking lads’.
“But it was more to do with the way we were playing the game and kicking the leather out of it and that was the gameplan… I was like, when it comes to World Cups no one cares. In 2003, do you really remember the style of rugby the team won the tournament with or the fact they were lifting the trophy?
“All in all, from the shower of s*** that we were going into the tournament, the growth in the team was huge. In no way after being the first England team to lose to Fiji at Twickenham would I have believed someone saying, ‘You will probably finish third in the World Cup’.
“But we did. We pulled together, we pulled our fingers out of our arse and had a good time doing it. There were a lot of special moments actually for a lot of old boys that won’t do it again.”
Name some. “All the different parts of France we went to were brilliant. Paris is one of my favourites to be in and out of… Danny Care was my roommate for the entirety, we had some good times together.
“I guess I’m just really proud to have been part of a team that had a lot going on and off the field going into it and during it and to then actually pull together to come away with a bronze medal is something I am really proud of and really enjoyed.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Starts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
2 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
2 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
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