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England prop Joe Marler retires from Test rugby

Joe Marler of England looks on prior to the Autumn Nations Series 2025 match between England and New Zealand All Blacks at the Allianz Stadium on November 02, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Veteran England prop Joe Marler has announced his retirement from international rugby, bringing an end to a career that spanned 95 caps.

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The news comes after Marler copped plenty of flak for comments about the All Blacks haka and how he believed that it should be ‘binned’, a comment he later apologised for.

“Playing for England always felt like I was living in a dream bubble,” he said on Instagram. “I kept waiting for it to pop and me to suddenly go back to being a gobby, overweight 16-year-old again. But you know when it’s time.

“I can’t do what I used to do as well as I once could. I can’t keep talking about my family being my priority unless they actually are.

“I want to keep untarnished all these memories of my career, both good and bad. I don’t want to leave my house with my kids crying. I’m ready to make the change.”

The announcement was confirmed this morning by England Rugby and England head coach Steve Borthwick paid tribute to the loosehead: “Joe has been an outstanding servant to English rugby – a tough, uncompromising competitor on the field, and a genuine, one-of-a-kind personality off it. We’ll miss his humour, sense of fun, and the energy he brought to the squad. We’re grateful for all he’s given to England rugby, and though we won’t see him in an England jersey anymore, he’ll always be part of this team. Thank you, Joe.”

It’s not the first time Marler has retired from international rugby of course.

Marler, 34, initially stepped away from international duty in 2018, citing family reasons and a need for balance outside the game. He returned to the England squad the following year, answering Eddie Jones’ call for experience ahead of the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

His comeback proved impactful, as Marler played a role in England’s journey to the final, where they were ultimately defeated by South Africa.

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In 2020, Marler once again took a step back from international duty but was persuaded back into the fold by Jones. His formidable scrummaging, combined with his versatility and experience, made him a regular selection in Jones’ teams and, more recently, Steve Borthwick’s squad.

This latest retirement marks what appears to be Marler’s definitive farewell to the international stage. Known for his combative style on the pitch and his distinct personality off it, Marler has become one of England rugby’s most recognisable figures over the past decade.

His 95 caps place him among the most-capped forwards in England’s history, while his humour and off-field antics have made him one of the most colourful characters in the sport.

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Comments

8 Comments
R
Red and White Dynamight 17 days ago

half-wit

R
RedWarrior 17 days ago

Distinguished career for England. Bit of craic off the field. Best of luck to him.

C
CM 17 days ago

The only way to force SB to play younger and better players is for someone like Marler to retire. Now can we have Ford and Slade retire to bring in far better players in their positions.

f
fl 18 days ago

Hope he is ok.


I've been very critical of him in the past; I don't think he's been good enough recently to warrant a place in the squad, and I also generally find him quite annoying, but clearly things have gone on behind the scenes this week.


Hopefully now Bevan Rodd gets brought in; he's perhaps the form loosehead in the prem.

T
Timmyboy 17 days ago

Manny Iyogun is better than Rodd. I’m not sure what games you’ve been watching !

T
Tom 18 days ago

Rodd has looked really bad every time he's played for England... And not just his scrummaging, last time he was capped he kept giving away stupid penalties in the loose.

B
Bob Salad II 18 days ago

Shame that the end of a memorable England career should come off the back of a forgettable final week.


Decisive figure for many, but undoubtedly one of England’s best loose-head props. His departure does now create an opportunity for someone else join Genge and Baxter. Hopefully, Asher Opoku-Fordjour.


*Borthwick has called Asher up. 👍

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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