Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

An Act of Stupidity That May Change England's Front Row

JOE MARLER. PHOTO / GETTY

Joe Marler was already in trouble for calling an opponent ‘gypsy boy’. Now another act of idiocy has him staring at a suspension that could have implications for Eddie Jones and England, writes Martyn Thomas.

ADVERTISEMENT

It took Joe Marler barely 26 minutes to make an impact on his return from suspension on Friday night. Unfortunately for the Harlequins prop it was an intervention that could land him in yet more hot water.

Making his first appearance since World Rugby slapped him with a two-week ban for his ‘Gypsy boy’ comment to Wales’ Samson Lee, Marler would have been advised to keep a low profile.

Instead, the increasingly controversial front-row forward decided to show his displeasure with Grenoble hooker Arnaud Heguy by kicking out at his head.

Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea could argue, with some justification, after his side’s European Challenge Cup semifinal win that Marler had made contact with Heguy with his shin rather than his foot.

But that is not the point.


Start your free trial of RugbyPass today and watch all this weekend’s games live, on demand and in HD on your TV, PC, Phone and Tablet.


The intent was there, as the England prop wrestled with his front-row rival on the floor before teeing up his head to meet his shin, however faintly.

ADVERTISEMENT

Contact may have been so inconsequential that in the ‘good old days’ the incident would barely have registered, but it was an act of utter stupidity.

Unlike Wasps replacement Simon McIntyre, who has been cited for a similar incident in his side’s European Champions Cup last-four defeat to Saracens, his movement was not impeded and, therefore, he had no need to get involved. Yet he felt compelled to.

Marler now faces an anxious wait to discover his fate, but given the entry level suspension for kicking an opponent is four weeks, if found guilty, then his season could well be over.

ADVERTISEMENT

Harlequins would certainly be denied his services for the Challenge Cup final against Montpellier on May 13, which would be a huge blow to his club and outgoing director of rugby, O’Shea.

Given the furore caused by the 25-year-old’s remarks to Lee, and the subsequent World Rugby investigation, Marler could be looking at even longer on the sidelines.

World Rugby’s disciplinary guidelines on the offence allow for a ban anywhere between four and 52 weeks, and while the latter is highly unlikely, a ban of more than a month is not impossible.

If, for example, Marler is deemed to have committed a mid-range offence then he would face eight weeks out. Such a ban would rule him out of England’s tour of Australia in June, and create a real risk of losing possession of the England No.1 shirt to Mako Vunipola.

The elder Vunipola brother is in arguably the best form of his career and played the full 80 minutes for Saracens as they dispensed of Wasps.

Miss the flight Down Under and Marler could put his international place in jeopardy.

And that would be a shame. As O’Shea pointed out on Friday night, the controversy distracted attention from what had been a fine individual performance from Marler.

But there can also be no doubt that he needs to cut out the kind of aberrations that marred his display against Grenoble.

Since breaking into the Harlequins set-up Marler has attempted to cultivate a reputation as something of an odd-ball.

It is true that he is not always the easiest interviewee, and he has not had the most harmonious relationship with the press pack at times, but he is a confident and well-liked player among his teammates.

O’Shea would not have handed him the captaincy last season if he did not trust him, and the prop must not allow controversy to detract from his ability.

Neither Marler nor Harlequins were happy with the amount of column inches devoted to his spat with Lee, but there is only one way to dictate what is written, and that is with performances on the pitch.

One man who could tell him that, and who barely put a foot wrong in his own European semifinal, is Dan Carter.

The All Blacks legend was exemplary as he and Racing 92 half-back partner Maxime Machenaud guided their side past Leicester Tigers and into the Champions Cup final.

Carter used all of his experience to ensure that the Parisians played in the right areas of the pitch and ensured Leicester were kept at arm’s length until a late, ultimately futile, flurry.

Victory for Racing keeps the fly-half’s quest for a silverware clean sweep very much on, the only dampener being that he could be denied a contest with Owen Farrell in Lyon.

Farrell has been cited for a dangerous tackle that resulted in an ugly clash of heads with Dan Robson that ended the Wasps scrum-half’s afternoon and confined the England No.10 to the sin bin.

Farrell, like Marler, faces an anxious wait as World Rugby’s disciplinary officials are kept busy. Carter, meanwhile, can focus on what he does best: collecting trophies.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster | Autumn Nations Series All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
Search