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How a chicken run helped to keep isolated Marler fit to face Boks
Joe Marler has confirmed he is fit and well and will be taking his place as the replacement loosehead on the England bench for this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series finale versus the Springboks at Twickenham. The prop, who tested positive for Covid-19 on November 8, only came out of isolation at home on Thursday night but he has since linked up with Eddie Jones’ squad and trained with them at Pennyhill Park on Friday morning.
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That training eradicated any doubts over Marler being the bench back-up to rookie starter Bevan Rood and he went on to demonstrate how much he is looking forward to the prospect of taking on the Springboks by appearing at an England media briefing not long after training had finished.
The 31-year-old Marler was wickedly entertaining across the eight-minute live section of the session, taking time in between some cracking answers to eat some soup and generally illustrate that all is fine in life despite the enforced isolation that ruled him out of last weekend’s England win over the Wallabies.
It kicked off with his health, how was Marler feeling after being in isolation for ten days and how did he manage to keep his fitness ticking over knowing he wasn’t going to be able to train with the England squad until Friday’s captain’s run prior to Saturday’s first clash with the Springboks since the World Cup final 24 months ago?
“My taste buds aren’t back – headline news – and it is really upsetting me,” he quipped. “My kids are fine, my wife is fine. They managed to escape it because I spent the first five days at home wearing double masks, washing my hands loads, not touching anything, not touching them and then sleeping in the spare room. They somehow managed to avoid it which is great.
Marchant has never started before on the England wing while Marler is still in isolation until 8pm Thursday 😲 #England #ENGvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries #Springboks
https://t.co/6WYHHWqvXQ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 18, 2021
“How did I keep fit? About two years ago we had a big chicken pen built and unfortunately my dog died on the same night that a fox ravaged my four chickens that we had in there, so I had this pen bit that I could do some running in and I have got a gym in my garage, so I just kept on top of that and then tucked in to a bottle of red a day just to keep things going and I managed to make it back which I am really grateful for, the opportunity to come back in and to try and contribute in some way.”
What awaits Marler on Saturday with England is the daunting prospect of coming up against the famed Springboks front row. How will he approach the challenge? “Head on. I thought about this, you know when you get adrenaline, adrenaline is used to fight or flight… to stay and fight or to leg it because you are scared. That is sort of how I feel with Springbok front-rowers and their scrummaging and their passion for it.
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“It is very much a fight or flight and I run towards the fight side of it and I love it because all six of them, you could even look at their third-string front rows and go arguably they are all world-class operators. That is what I want to do, I want to test myself against the best and in the hottest environments. I am really excited about it.”
It is two years now since Marler was one of many England players left for dead in Yokohama by the mazy run that took Cheslin Kolbe all the way to the try line in the World Cup final. What does he make of not having to face a nemesis from 2019? “Very good, really good, I thought it was going to be a scrum angle (question) from you and then you hit me even harder with the dagger and I want to use a word that would be considered mean and inappropriate but I won’t use that so I am very happy, thanks.”
The session quickly moved on to a query referencing the England fight club that was talked about earlier this week by Matt Proudfoot, their scrum coach. It prompted the seated Marler to stand up and to hold up his leg to the camera at the virtually held media session. “You see them? They are my boxing boots. I have got them on. I am always ready. Can the fight club defuse the bomb squad? We will give it a good try.”
The high jinx continued with Marler asked what is he like as a boxer. “What am I like in the ring? It will come as no surprise that I am incredibly dirty and don’t stick to any of the normal boxing rules. I am more of a bar fighter, probably a cheater.
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“I don’t really like fighting. It’s like fake toughness. That feeling after you have had a fight, the comedown after a fight and the shakes it gives you and the emotion you end up with after a fight is one of the worst feelings so I just avoid doing that.
“Gengey [Ellis Genge],” he added when asked who was England’s best boxer. “You don’t want to get on the end of one of his. He is naturally powerful and he is also really horrible and aggressive. That combination and the fact that he is obsessed with Mike Tyson, I am just going to avoid him like the plague.”
The loosehead won't be able to train with England until Friday's captain's run #England #ENGvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries #Springbokshttps://t.co/dHIhn9L8JW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 17, 2021
Genge isn’t available for the match for the Springboks as he is in isolation after he tested positive for Covid last Friday. That diagnosis resulted in the uncapped Bevan Rodd being hurriedly promoted into the starting line-up last Saturday to beat the Wallabies and the 21-year-old will now wear the No1 jersey again against the Springboks, only this time with Jamie Blamire, another inexperienced Test player, for front-rower company as the starting hooker.
What will the pair learn against South Africa? “They will learn it steps up,” reckoned Marler. “Like the Australia game for someone like Bevan was huge. It was his debut, but it was probably a bit of a blur, the week the way it went for him and then just getting in there and don’t think about it and crack on and he did a really good job at that.
“And then the fact that he is going to have to back it up against the best in the world, I hope it will learn him that international rugby is relentless and you have to be on top of your game the whole time in order to even just get parity in the game. But also I hope they learn that it is one of the best places to be.
“You want to play in these environments that are just against the best, the biggest, in front of 80-plus thousand, on TV, it is just really enjoyable to do. I hope they learn that, that they are not daunted by it and they just thrive in that and want to do it again and again and again.”
The painful legacy of England losing to the Springboks in 2019#England #ENGvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries #Springbokshttps://t.co/Xu1jxTtKQw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments