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Zach Mercer has broken silence on his England World Cup rejection
Unwanted England hopeful Zach Mercer has broken his silence on his Rugby World Cup rejection by Steve Borthwick. Following a maiden season in France that ended with the No8 winning the Top 14 title with Montpellier and being voted the league’s player of the year, the promptings of then-England boss Eddie Jones last summer played its part in convincing the now 26-year-old that he had a chance to carve out a Test career provided he signed for a Gallagher Premiership club at the end of his two-year cross-Channel stay.
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This the twice-capped player did, agreeing to a four-year deal to join Gloucester for the 2023/24 season in the hope that it would see him return to France late next month as part of the England World Cup squad.
However, Jones was sacked as Test team boss last December and although his successor Borthwick named Mercer in his squads for the three initial June training weeks at Pennyhill, Brighton and Lensbury, he was omitted from the 41-strong selection chosen on June 30 to compete for a place in the squad of 33 that will be unveiled on August 7.
That decision left Mercer to pick up the pieces at Gloucester pre-season and he has now shared his thoughts for the first time about no longer being part of the England set-up ahead of their opening Summer Nations Series match away to Wales on August 5.
After becoming a first-time father last weekend following the birth of daughter Iris, Mercer insightfully spoke with The Times about his England setback, explaining what was said to him by head coach Borthwick and how he has taken that rejection.
“It was obviously extremely disappointing but I’m ready and I’ve got the aspiration to put on that England jersey again,” he said. “There were things that Steve wanted that I maybe couldn’t provide. I’m out of the picture, but I’m not just looking to the World Cup, even though it would have been amazing to return to France.
“I know I’ve got a long few years ahead of me yet. Don’t get me wrong, for 48 hours it was tough, but reality kicks in and you go, ‘Look, you’ve got a pregnant wife, a beautiful house to move into, real-life things you’ve got to sort out.’
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“I play the game very differently to a lot of No 8s in England, and in the world. I’m not the stereotypical No 8 as some would say. So, I understand it if you want to play differently. Obviously, the back row is really competitive, so I knew I was never guaranteed. Steve wanted to go down a different route with how he wanted the back row to play and who he wanted.
“I’m not sitting and waiting as it would drive me insane. If I get a call from Steve, I get a call from Steve. There was no bad blood left there at all. It’s not written off, not at all. You want to play in World Cups, but at the forefront is my little baby girl, my wife, and Gloucester.”
I went down to Gloucester this week to see Zach Mercer.
Maybe he’s still in the rose-tinted early days of fatherhood, but, while hurt, he’s not bitter about his #England dropping.
“I’m not sitting and waiting as it would drive me insane.”@TimesSport https://t.co/SQPFitzMfh
— Will Kelleher (@willgkelleher) July 28, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
Naaaww boys will be boys! Now run along ya wee scamp! Don’t let us catch you at again😏
1 Go to commentsGreat to have Ethan Blackadder back in the Crusaders in the last few weeks. One of the best all round loose forwards around. He played so well last week against the Rebels. Fantastic attitude Ethan has and his comments are spot on.
2 Go to commentsThe author is 100% right. The Springboks know that they don't have near the natural attraction, mana, skill and mystic the All Blacks have. So, Chasing the sun 1 & 2 was concocted to overblow the Boks image on the back of a corruptly obtained “win". It's marketing ploy to force the Boks delusion as the World's Best. I guess World Rugby is also not to be believed when it came out with an apology about how the final was officiated. And if the 2023 final such a superb game by the Boks, then the Boks crying about Referee Bryce Lawrence for decades is also deserves a laugh. Chase the sun and get burned like a moth. A very well written literary piece that tore the Boks and Chasing the sun farce to shreds. 🖤All Blacks🏉
142 Go to commentsI’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
142 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
142 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
142 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
142 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
142 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
142 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
142 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
142 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
142 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
142 Go to commentsHo hum.
142 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
142 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
142 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
142 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
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