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Dan Cole offers advice to Joe Marler England replacement

By PA
Joe Marler (R) of England talks to team mate Dan Cole in the warm up prior to the Summer International match between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium on August 19, 2023 in Dublin, Dublin. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England prop Dan Cole admits he was surprised by the timing of Joe Marler’s instant retirement from international rugby.

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Marler, who sparked controversy with disparaging comments about the Haka ahead of his country’s 24-22 loss against New Zealand on Saturday, publicly called time on his 95-cap Test career on Sunday morning.

The 34-year-old had been selected by head coach Steve Borthwick for the Autumn Nations Series but left the squad last Monday for personal reasons.

His final England outing came in July when he suffered a broken foot during the opening Test of the 2-0 summer tour defeat to the All Blacks.

Cole, who shared a room on international duty with long-term team-mate Marler, said: “Did I think he would go last Sunday? No.

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“But we both knew in the end, the older we’re getting, it was coming at some point.

“I thought part of him wanted a hundred caps but unfortunately he hurt his foot in that New Zealand Test.

“You have an inclination but you have no control over what he thinks or does.

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“The good thing is he has gone out on his own terms, so he’s alive, well and healthy.

“He’s still my friend but he’s just not here. Part and parcel of rugby is people come and go.”

Marler, who will continue to play for Harlequins until the end of the season, has been no stranger to controversy, including last week with his social media posts calling for the “ridiculous” Haka to be “binned”.

The colourful prop subsequently apologised and stated he was merely trying to “spark interest in a mega rugby fixture”, as well as contest the restrictions in place for facing the Maori war dance.

He has spoken openly about his mental health struggles.

Cole, who is preparing for England’s remaining November fixtures against Australia, South Africa and Japan, continued: “Obviously for selfish reasons you miss him because he’s your friend but, at the same time, the team continues to move forward.

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“And that’s the thing with rugby, maybe one of the great things about it: no matter how much adversity you have, you still turn up for training and move forward.”

England Under-20 prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour has been called up by Borthwick as loosehead cover for Marler.

Cole urged the uncapped 20-year-old to focus on bringing his own point of difference, rather than attempting to be a direct replacement.

“He’s obviously been playing fantastically well in the Premiership for Sale,” said 37-year-old Cole.

“Teams evolve, teams move forward, other people have to step up.

“But it’s not about replacing like-for-like, it’s not about him replacing Marler.

“It’s about bringing your own personality. It’s not trying to be someone else.

“You’ve been selected because you have a point of difference to bring and it’s about bringing that, rather than trying to be something you’re not.”

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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
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