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Marler retirement should serve as a warning, not come as a shock – Andy Goode

By Andy Goode
Harlequins prop Joe Marler

Joe Marler’s international retirement isn’t as big a shock as it might seem at first but it should serve as a warning to those running the game.

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Hearing that someone is retiring from international rugby at the age of 28 when there’s no injury involved has to come as something of a surprise but when you listen to the reasons behind the decision it is completely understandable and in a way it’s surprising it doesn’t happen more.

Playing in a Test match and representing your country is a massive honour but that match day represents just a tenth of the effort that goes in and there are downsides behind closed doors that the public don’t see.

Everyone’s personal situation is different and I’m in no position to talk about Joe’s or anyone else’s but you don’t see the strain that rugby can put on family life and it can have very real knock-on effects on mental health as well so it’s a very individual decision and one that should be respected.

Joe Marler of England is tackled during the third test match between South Africa and England at Newlands Stadium. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

It’s easy for people on the outside who aren’t professional rugby players to say they can’t believe he’s giving up the chance to play for England and I understand that point of view but you have to have been in that position to appreciate the pressure and strain it puts on family life.

As an international rugby player, you’re away from home for huge chunks of time. There has been a training camp in Bristol this week and there are others throughout the year on top of the long periods of time you’re away for matches.

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Players are going to be away for five weeks during the autumn internationals, then come back shattered and go away again straight away with their club for a big European game, it’s then the Christmas period before there’s another international camp in January, more major European matches that month and then over two months for the Six Nations with a lot of that spent away from home.

After the end of the domestic season, there are then going to be camps throughout the summer in the lead-up to the World Cup. It’s relentless.

Many will question the timing of this decision and ask why he doesn’t carry on playing until the end of the 2019 World Cup but I’m exhausted just outlining that non-stop treadmill that you’d have to be on to make it that far.

To turn down the adulation, the chance to go to a World Cup in less than 12 months’ time and the money that comes with it all as well, of course, is a big decision and it’s a brave one that he hasn’t taken lightly.

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The selfish thing to do would be to keep doing it and taking the £23,000 per game and other benefits even if his heart isn’t fully in it. The hardest course of action is the one he’s taken and I massively respect him for it.

Sir Clive Woodward has spoken out to say he just cannot understand it but people on the outside making comments like that have no understanding of the current strains on players in the modern game.

If you’re a 19-year-old kid or a 22-year-old at the start of your career, you might be amazed at the decision but life is different when you’re 28 and have a family and rugby is a job. The players know they’re very privileged to do it but it can’t always be at the expense of family life.

Your kids grow up fast. My twins are now nearly a year old and I can’t believe where that year’s gone. It’s flown by and if I was still playing, I’d be missing precious moments like bathing them and reading them stories.

When you can’t do that at all for five weeks straight because of a summer tour and even the autumn internationals and Six Nations when you’re still away for most of it, it takes its toll.

Joe has two young kids and has crammed in 59 caps since he made his England debut six years ago (despite being banned a few times!). He only missed four Tests in four years between 2012 and 2016 so he’s been away a lot.

You can’t play international rugby at 80% and pick and choose which games you play. You’re either all in or all out and it’s sad for everyone that wants to see him playing for England but he’s made this decision in the best interests of his family.

Former All Black captain Richie McCaw is one of many Kiwis to have taken a sabbatical

New Zealanders are often allowed to take sabbaticals and other unions, such as the Irish and Welsh, look after their players and restrict the amount of games that their top players play but that isn’t possible in England at the moment because the RFU didn’t take the opportunity 20 years ago to run the game centrally.

They could have seen the recent £275m offer from CVC as an opportunity to discuss the structure again and perhaps find a way to take back some control of the club game but, as things stand, the players are the clubs’ assets and they are being pulled in two different directions.

The boys are playing too much high intensity rugby. Peter O’Mahony has spoken out this week as well to say that it just isn’t going to possible to play 30 games per year moving forwards and he’s spot on. The game has moved on and we have to adapt and look after players better.

Growing up, all you dream of is playing for your country and I remember the pride, the buzz and the enjoyment when I won my first England cap. Nobody can take that away from you and Joe has experienced the feeling of pulling on that jersey with a red rose on it 59 times. I know it means a huge amount to him and he wouldn’t have made this decision without very good reason.

But, there is a lot more international rugby nowadays than there used to be, too much in my opinion and I think it’s saturated to a certain extent. World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont spoke about changing the international calendar on the very same day that Joe was leaving the international fold and I do think something has to change.

Joe’s international retirement will cause others to stop and think and it’s an early warning sign to those in charge of the sport, especially in this country, that things can’t carry on as they are.

Eddie Jones and Joe Marler after 2017 November international against Australia. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

That’s not for Joe to worry about now though and the comments from people from all over the world since his announcement show just what high regard he’s held in.

Only Jason Leonard, Dan Cole and Phil Vickery have won more caps for England at prop and they all won theirs over a much longer period. He’s had a phenomenal international career and played with as much physical edge as anyone else I can think of.

He’s a real character as well. I’ve got to know him a bit over the past few months and he’s absolutely brilliant when you get to know him and he’s a player you absolutely detest playing against because he’s hard and uncompromising and England will really miss him.

He may have made a name for himself with a mohawk at the start but he’s played in a World Cup, won a Grand Slam and toured with the British & Irish Lions. His has been a stellar international career and we should celebrate that, while applauding the decision he’s taken to put his family first.

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Jon 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 11 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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