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'Pure joie': How rookie Bevan Rodd won the approval of Joe Marler
Joe Marler rolled back into the England set-up ahead of this weekend’s Autumn Nations Series match versus the Springboks thrilled that fellow loosehead Bevan Rodd had done his bit at the scrum and much more around the park when he debuted in last weekend’s win over the Wallabies. Marler’s positive test for Covid on November 8 resulted in the 21-year-old Sale player getting called up by Eddie Jones.
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Rodd was swiftly named on the England bench for the Australian match but he was then catapulted into the No1 jersey on the eve of the game due to Ellis Genge suffering the same misfortune as Marler and testing positive for the virus.
The emergency left England fans feeling anxious about how the scrum would do minus the seasoned pair of Genge and Marler, but they need not have worried as Rodd wasn’t found wanting when playing for around 70 minutes before making way for Trevor Davison, another loosehead rookie.
Marler watched the match while isolating at home, working his way through a couple of bottles of wine as it unfolded, and the 31-year-old with 73 England caps was pleased with what he saw from the newcomer Rodd.
“From a technical point of view scrummaging-wise, he was very good at staying in front of (James) Slipper at tighthead rather than kicking his arse out too often, which is an easy out for a loosehead when the pressure comes on and you are slightly worried that you are not trusting in the hooker next to you and you are, ‘I am going to have to try and make something happen’.
'It’s tough enough facing Nche, Mbonambi & Nyakane but even if they do achieve parity, Kitshoff, Malcolm & Koch are the most formidable scrummaging trio in world… If that isn’t an acid test, then I don’t know what is.'@AndyGoode10 ??? #ENGvSA #ENGvRSA https://t.co/kJTflChzsK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2021
“The easy thing to do is to step left, kick your arse out, make that gap between you and your hooker even bigger than it is and try and go after him at tighthead on your own – and he [Rodd] didn’t. There was probably once or twice that he veered going that way, the other times he just stayed in front of him, kept plugging away and adapted well in the second half against a smart operator albeit out of position.
“I was just really impressed that that level of concentration that was needed at scrum time for him didn’t take away from him and his work rate around the pitch and that he was still having the confidence to carry, still putting his hand up to make tackles. He even had a nice little out the back offload. Pure joie. You want to see a loosehead joie. That was good. I was really pleased, he is a nice kid.”
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It was Thursday night when Marler was able to come out from his ten-day isolation and rejoin an England squad where hours earlier he was chosen as this weekend’s bench backup behind Rodd. No sooner was he back in camp was he winding up the youngster with a moment of awkward panic after a handshake between the pair of props.
“I came in to see him and I was, ‘Alright Bev, how are you doing?’ I don’t know him particularly well and he is still young and getting used to it. I said, ‘Well done, mate’ and went to shake his hand when he was eating his food and I shook his hand. Then he started semi-making eye contact with me because I was standing up looking down at him.
“As I am talking away, he is rubbing his hand on his lap and I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ Then he realised what it looked like was that I shook his hand and he was wiping his hand off as if I had given him the Covid and he was scared about it.
“I went, ‘What are you doing?’. He was like, ‘No, no, no, I had crumbs on my hand and then I was wiping it off’. I was like, ‘If you had crumbs on your hand beforehand, why didn’t you wipe your hand before you shook my hand and now I got crumbs?’
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“It was just this sort of awkward panic just to wind him up which was great. But he is a really good kid and I do everything I can to support him and make sure he has a good time on Saturday and understand that yes it will be tough but that is exactly what you want. You don’t want it to be easy. The easy ones are boring.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Loose forwards always look good going forward and winning. It’s the same loose forwards for the Crusaders and the Canes this year as last year. Too much of the shiny new things getting noticed here while older consistent ones getting bagged. It’s early days. Calm the farm.
5 Go to commentsThanks Nick, and on the money. We tend to be apathetic until something REALLY BAD happens, then we aren't! At least this applies to the Reb players and coach, if not the spectators. They seem to be getting very quick ball at times. Have they altered something, or is it just all of the skills coming together at the right time? It seems almost the opposite of the Reds, who started the season with quick ball, but haven't been showing that in the last 3 losing games. Is it attitude (McDermott hasn't looked “right” to me for 3 weeks), or something else?
9 Go to commentsGood summary. As said, Sevu Reece has been electrifying for the Crusaders. Great try and he has been everywhere. Amazing he is now equal with Caleb Ralph , club record of 52 tries for the Crusaders. That record beckons. Good to see Dallas McLeod getting regular starts at last. A big few weeks are ahead.
5 Go to commentsGood article/interview.As was said Christian Lio-Willie was barnstorming when he came on for the Crusaders. What happened at the end, self-explanatory.Captain fantastic Scott Barrett is due back soon as well, once they are back from Aussie. Great to see Ethan Blackadder back last week.
1 Go to commentsYou must have been watching one team, Andrew - and even then you missed the brightest star in the Chiefs pack - Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 2 turnovers, genuine line-out presence and grunt around the field, and the soft hands of a back.
5 Go to commentsHaha what a crock of sh!t these headlines are. Moorby’s best year was that first. Still doesn’t seem to have the same game about him as when he was fresh but has bounced back well this season to be playing consistent tight accurate footy
1 Go to commentsIt’s even dumber than Bernard Foley not kicking the penalty to touch in the Melbourne Bledisloe in 2022.
3 Go to commentsYes, they are traveling well but it’s early days. The Chiefs were in front with 20 to go while they snatched a last minute win v the Reds. Keep calm.
1 Go to commentsThe failure of the Irish system / rugby playing style to produce their own backs has them looking elsewhere for innovation and flair - not that Jordie has much flair. He’s a converted fullback. The Canes have plenty of other younger options.
9 Go to comments1.Watch Wallace Sititi be the wild card AB. A genuine full time no 8 2. Luke J like Sotutu has not delivered. 3. Chiefs have all the right cattle but badly miss the leadership of Webber. LJ is about as unconvincing as Sam Cane when under the pump. They had the winning of that game in the second half then fell apart.
5 Go to commentsYes the Rebels are showing signs of life because they are literally playing for their live -lihoods and thanks to their Australian attack coach. However they are still playing an essentially dull boring south african style for the rest of the time. And Geoff Parling must be the most useless lineout coach ever. Worse than Steve Hansen even. Interestingly we are starting to see more cheap shots and attempts to get away with cheating by Australian players, now they are being influenced by Joe Schmidt. It was exactly the same when Rennie started out as Wallaby coach and thru his tenure. Trying to teach Australians to play like kiwis doesn’t work, as the last 20 years has conclusively demonstrated. Especially when we are not as good at it as kiwis. Which of course is the whole idea …..
9 Go to commentsGreat signing, not sure where he’ll fit in though. As for him ‘playing alongside RG Snyman, that’s highly debatable given the likelyhood that the latter will spend most of the season on sick leave.
9 Go to commentsWowee!
9 Go to commentsEvery team that has played a game in Africa this Champions Cup season is already out of the competition - including the SA teams. Could be a concidence.
30 Go to commentsthat should offer some experiences for Jordie.
9 Go to commentsJust remember: He is not a winger. Took Ian Foster 2 years to figure that out.
9 Go to commentsExcellent article, Nick. We (your RP colleague Brett McKay and my 8/9 Combo cohost), are going to have LSL on our podcast later this month. He has shown consistent excellence as a leader and lock. I’ll chat with you offline about a line of questioning if you have time. H
9 Go to commentsSo no Irish fan or journalist suggested JGP was as good as DuPont. Then even the guy who supposedly did is from Wales and said JGP would be the best around if it was t for DuPont. Right, so what is this story about again
17 Go to commentsGreat news for the URC. Leinster will always attract top talent. Another huge name added to their stable
9 Go to commentsWhen you look at Australian Rugby you can see the talent coming through. There’s young players everywhere. They have the makings of a strong Wallaby team for years to come if they trust their young players. There might be some short term pain but after 30 or 40 caps together a Wallaby group comprised of the current youngsters will really be top class. It seems like the threat of going under has focused the Rebels both on and off the field. They are having a go like a team with nothing to lose and winning back the fans whilst silencing their detractors. Its funny how an existential threat can spur a team on to new highs. Taking rugby back to the communities will help to build support and create a true team for the community and one rooted into it. It may just work and save the Rebels and if they can get the financing then maybe let them have a go at reinvention. I do feel though that Australian Rugby has one too many franchises. If the Rebels die all these solid young players get infused into other franchises who will have more money, depth and resources. It would make the Australian Rugby franchises so much stronger and they may come to achieve parity with the best franchises from NZ. Super Rugby is throwing up some really entertaining games. Not too much good defence but certainly high pace, try scoring magic on display. Melbourne are no exception to this.
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