Harlequins’ Joe Marchant: ‘I don’t know about a band but we enjoyed a jam’
If Joe Marchant had any nerves before his first Twickenham start for England against South Africa last month they were quickly settled when a trademark Marcus Smith crossfield kick provided him with an early first touch. It has become a familiar sight in Harlequins colours – the pair were at it again against Cardiff last weekend for Marchant’s try – and it is uncanny how often it comes off. They are both too young to remember but it is reminiscent of the old Darren AndertonTeddy Sheringham corner routine that gave Tottenham and England so much joy in the 1990s.
“It’s nice to have that relationship with someone at international level,” says Marchant. “Knowing how Marcus plays and to be able to work off that is a good way for me to be able to get into the game.”
Not long after that first touch against the Springboks Marchant was forced to move from the right wing to his more familiar position of outside centre and, in unison with Henry Slade, he turned in the kind of performance that suggests he will make many more international starts at Twickenham.
It was he who made the break for Raffi Quirke’s crucial try and it was Marchant who won the late penalty that led to Siya Kolisi’s yellow card. He did so by gathering a Smith chip over the top, lest we forget.
The 25-year-old was a surprise selection on the wing against the Springboks – there is a heartwarming video of Eddie Jones telling Marchant how proud his father will be, boasting to his mates in the pub – but he has been on the fringes of the England set-up for a while and it is to his credit that he has not disappeared from view.
Jones often cites Marchant as one of the players most unlucky to miss out on the 2019 World Cup squad but thereafter he took himself off to Auckland on an enriching sabbatical with the Blues and, as luck would have it, honed his skills as a winger.
“I hadn’t really played too much on the wing for Quins until I went there and when I was out there, in one of my earliest conversations with [the coach] Leon MacDonald, it was very much about playing at 13 and on the wing as well,” says Marchant. “To get that experience, when we went to South Africa my first game on the wing was against the Stormers, I got another against the Hurricanes.
“Then coming back to Quins they saw that I could do it, it became transferable and I ended up doing a couple of games on the wing for Quins and more regularly this season and the back end of last. We’ve got so many good players, we can all play in different positions. It’s more just about getting everyone on the pitch together.”
Evidently it is paying off and Marchant, alongside Smith and Alex Dombrandt and a host of other bright young things, were instrumental in Harlequins’ unforgettable Premiership triumph last season. “Last season was just special for all of us,” says Marchant.
“When we came into this season, we wanted to not just emulate that but work on the things we can improve and become a better team. For us that came with all the connections we made with each other, making sure the environment was good fun and everyone was having a good time, enjoying themselves on the pitch.”
Theories as to how Harlequins turned their fortunes around last season are plentiful but most can be simplified into rekindling a sense of enjoyment in what they were doing, in removing anything – including their captain’s run training sessions – that made things feel too much like a grind. And listen to the players involved in the autumn and Jones’s side have also reaped the rewards of refreshing and building new relationships, or “connections” as Marchant calls them.
He and Freddie Steward – the 20year-old Leicester full-back and arguably England’s star turn of the autumn – hit it off, for example. Both are keen musicians with Marchant on guitar and Steward a dab hand on either the piano or guitar. That he was giving Ben Youngs a few tips on tinkling the ivories suggests a relaxed camp too, which has not always been the case of late.
“I don’t know about a band but we enjoyed a little jam,” says Marchant, who can also list a black belt in karate as a string to his bow. “[Freddie is] unreal at the guitar and he’s really good at the piano, Ben Youngs was trying to learn piano a bit so we had a few sessions in his room, he had a piano in there which helped. It’s just little things like that which made the camp enjoyable, being able to switch from rugby and explore our different passions.”
Harlequins return to Twickenham on Monday for their annual festive match there against Northampton and for what will be a first appearance there since beating Exeter 40-38 in May in last season’s Premiership final. It is the 13th edition but this one will be extra special after having to forgo the Twickenham match last season. It is a key stage of the season for Harlequins financially and has always been a firm fixture as a family outing between Christmas and New Year.
Whether that is the case again this year is unclear with the Omicron variant spreading but at last estimate, Harlequins were anticipating more than 70,000 and hopeful of late walk-ups, perhaps from those mindful that bumper crowds at sporting events may soon be put on hold. They have won both their opening Champions Cup matches but before that had slipped to two narrow Premiership defeats, so returning to winning ways is also at the forefront of Marchant’s mind.
“Being able to have so many fans there, because we couldn’t last year, is massive for us,” he said. “And there’s a real family vibe, it’s around Christmas, people have time off and they get together and make the occasion very special. It’s always a spectacle where we as a club like to put on a show. To do that in midwinter in front of 80,000 would just be so good. The thought of it gets everyone up for it.”