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The Parisian housewarming Joe Marchant never imagined happening
How incredibly ironic. Joe Marchant jumped on board a train from Marseille to Paris on Monday afternoon, not to embrace his new life in the French capital but to prepare to draw a celebratory line under his old existence with England.
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It was last December, following an Autumn Nations Series where national team boss Eddie Jones hadn’t given him a sniff, that the Harlequins midfielder decided his future was best served by absconding to the Top 14 and an offer from Stade Francais, the club where Paul Gustard, his old Premiership coach, is now assisting.
Instead of pitching up at his new home in October and getting stuck into his new surroundings ahead of the resumption of the French league season, Marchant has more important business to do elsewhere – attempting to win the Rugby World Cup with England. This assignment picks up again next Saturday when the Springboks are the semi-final opposition.
Marchant will head into that fixture feeling about 10 feet tall. His Test selection fortunes changed at the start of 2023 when Steve Borthwick succeeded Jones, but not hugely as one start and another as a sub didn’t suggest he was a major piece of the new coach’s jigsaw.
That perspective has since very much changed. There were three successive starts at outside centre in the Summer Nations Series as well as a block-ending run off the bench versus Fiji that also featured a try in the corner.
And now at the World Cup, his name has remained on the teamsheet as he has started England’s four main matches and scored twice, clinching the bonus point last month versus Japan in Nice and, more importantly, exhibiting some sweet footwork to bag England’s second try in Sunday’s quarter-final victory over the Fijians.
Chuffed with life right now? You bet! “I’m excited. I’m moving in (to Paris) in two weeks’ time. It was so uncertain before with wherever we got to (in the World Cup) but yeah, we’re in it right until the end now so looking forward to my new chapter from there.
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“Absolutely buzzing, everyone is so excited in there [the dressing room]. Semi-finals, many of us haven’t been there before so we are all really excited about it. It was a great day. I’m thankful to have this opportunity and excited to have been involved in the whole thing. I have absolutely loved it and I’m looking forward to the next week.
“Especially over this tournament we have just got better and better at it. There have been games where we have come up against it. Argentina with the red card early on, we found a way to win there. Samoa, they came flying at us and we got a win there. And Fiji, they just kept coming and coming and coming and we got the win. It’s always improving and hopefully that continues.”
England’s six-point win turned the tables on the Pacific Islanders after they had won the Twickenham warm-up by eight points just seven weeks ago. “It [the turnaround in the result] is kind of hard to put into words really, that was a tough day for us all.
“It was Courtney’s 100th in that game and we all wanted to do him proud. We couldn’t win that day and Fiji came out on top. For us, it was just about learning from that game and taking everything we have learned from this whole tournament so far and putting that into a bigger week again.
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“It was the same messages as always, to go and do our job and do what we want to do,” he added about the situation in Marseille where England, having been comfortably ahead for a long stretch, were suddenly hit by two scoreboard-levelling converted tries. “We got down there, we got the points when it mattered and we kept them out which was huge. We’re obviously buzzing.”
All the while, Marchant has kept his head up, revelling in every moment after a 2022/23 season that didn’t ignite for him at Test level. “You have got to be confident. If you start to lack confidence, that is when you start to struggle so for us it was always about getting to the next job, getting the job done.
"I don’t really care what other people think of us, I care about the development of the team…"
– The Steve Borthwick reaction to England beating Fiji and reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-final versus South Africa. #ENGvFIJ #RWC2023 #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/W9H8gsWT2y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 15, 2023
“The messages I have kind of been having with myself have always been the same, keep enjoying it, take every moment as it comes and make the most of it really. I have loved every minute of it and am just really happy to have played so much.
The final word from Marchant goes to Borthwick and how the coach has turned things around on the pitch. “He is brilliant with that, he plans out the weeks and he plans out the games and stuff and we get on board with it. For us, it’s about getting the results and doing the stuff on the pitch.
“It’s just stick to the system; it’s about everything we do in the week, everything we do in the prep to it and sticking to our system, our plan. When it goes well for us the team goes well.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
4 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
4 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
4 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
96 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
96 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
96 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
96 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
96 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
96 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
96 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
96 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
96 Go to comments