MARLER IS SO HAPPY WITH ENGLAND ROLE
PROP RELIEVED TO BE BACK AS A MAIN MAN IN EDDIE JONES’ INTERNATIONAL SQUAD
Joe Marler is enjoying his rebirth as an England player after admitting that at one stage last year he “didn’t care” about rugby.
Marler ruled himself out of the June tour to Australia knowing he was not in the right frame of mind following a turbulent few months that reached their nadir when he was banned for two weeks for verbally abusing Wales prop Samson Lee.
By missing the triumphant series against the Wallabies he had jeopardised his England career, but he has since re-established himself in Eddie Jones’ starting XV aided by a fresh perspective on his sport gained during the break.
“I didn’t know how it was going to pan out,” the Harlequins loosehead said.
“At that point I didn’t care...without sounding like .... of course I care, but at that point I was like, ‘that is not important to me’.
“Instead, I wanted to go away with the family for five weeks and actually spend some time with the kids, enjoy it, come back to pre-season with Harlequins and hit it hard and see where I ended up.
“I had to make that judgement knowing that I may not get back in the squad again. As well as Eddie took it, there was always that chance.
“Stepping away from rugby a little bit and making more effort with my family, and realising that they are my number one priority and the thing that I enjoy most, has helped on the field. Doing less is more in that regard.”
Having served his suspen- sion for calling Lee “gypsy boy”, Marler then received another two-week ban for kicking Grenoble hooker Arnaud Heguy.
Knowing he needed to address his temperament, he spent time with sports psychologist Jeremy Snape and entered the current season with a strategy to curb the red mist - while at the same time acknowledging boxer Mike Tyson’s quote that ‘everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face’.
The 26-year-old has avoided any disciplinary lapses, including in the recent 21-16 RBS 6 Nations victory over Wales that brought him face to face with Lee once more.
“I have not been punched yet which is a surprise, especially in that Wales game,” he said.
“I hadn’t seen Samson since last year’s incident so we had a smile at each other and then had a good catchup afterwards. It was good to see him. There was never any beef between us.”