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'He's keen to go': Harlequins issue update on Joe Marler broken foot

Joe Marler of England looks on during the England Rugby squad captain's run at Eden Park on July 12, 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson has said that England loosehead Joe Marler is making “good progress” as he recovers from a broken foot.

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Quins have been without their prop for the entirety of their pre-season after he broke his left foot in the opening 20 minutes of England’s first Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin in July.

Marler himself has since given a less-than-positive update, disclosing that his recovery has been “slower than expected”, but his boss has allayed any fears that he will be out any longer than the original 14-week prognosis.

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Indeed, Wilson even added that the 34-year-old is “keen to go” ahead of his 16th season of professional rugby, but they may need to curb his enthusiasm slightly and stick to the original recovery timeframe.

A 14-week recovery period would mean that the 95-cap England prop would be expected to return for round four of the Gallagher Premiership against Saracens at the Stoop after missing the opening three fixtures against Sale Sharks, Newcastle Falcons and champions Northampton Saints.

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This timeframe will please England boss Steve Borthwick, who should have his prop available for the Autumn Nations Series.

“He’s on the same track and making good progress on the timeframe we originally spoke about,” Wilson said.

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“I don’t know what that is now counting the weeks down, but it was a 14-week injury from when it happened. He’s making some good progress, he’s in really good spirits at the moment.

“He’s been in the environment today and obviously doing his own training as well as doing bits and pieces with the squad. He looks great at the moment and he’s keen to go, but we obviously need to tick all the boxes before we get him on the field.”

Quins travel to Manchester on Sunday to take on Sale in a tough opening match of the season. Despite a few absentees, Wilson is buoyant about the health of his squad heading into the match.

“Nothing came out of the Treviso game of any worry. Nothing new. The same players are on their graded return.

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“Joe Marler and a couple others are returning from injury but on the whole our squad is in a pretty decent place right now.

“That will get tested- six Premiership games on the bounce and then into a different competition, so it will get tested but right at this minute now we start at a reasonably good place.”

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1 Comment
f
fl 121 days ago

Genge and Baxter should be 1 and 17 for England.


Opoku-Fordjour has to be in the squad, and for the time being I'd have him down as a loosehead. If there are injuries to any of those three, or if Opoku-Fordjour is confirmed as a tighthead, then Rodd and Obano make much more long-term sense as squad players than Marler does.

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Another 4 hours ago
Scott Robertson has to take charge of his All Blacks in 2025

In terms of Robertson needing to ‘own’ 2025, I agree, although I disagree about where his priorities might lie in terms of tactics and personnel.


There is, as usual, an over scrutinising of backline performances, especially at No10, and not enough on the combinations up front where matches are really won and lost.


The ABs in 2024 took a while to work out their best front five. I personally think that Williams ultimately outperformed De Groot in the No1 jersey this year, and Vaa’i matured into a full international lock, both deserving their ascension. The re-inclusion of Tuipolutu on the bench essentially solved the AB jitters in the last quarter that plagued them during the Rugby Championship.


The real area of development needed now is to find a fully balanced, consistent and forceful loose forward combination. Sam Cane is gone, and both Savea and Sititi have been playing in the wrong positions, in my view, at No8 and No.6 respectively for too long. This area, as a major priority for 2025, is where they can make the most incremental improvement in collective performance for the team. It would be the area that they could start turning close losses into wins.


This is the key point: NZ played almost every other World ranked team in 2024, mostly away from home. Against South Africa, Ireland and France - the other major teams in the Top 4 of World Rugby right now - they scored, on aggregate, just one less point than these opponents collectively scored against them in all Tests played. If they can improve in one clear area, in 2025, they are going to see their results and ranking look after themselves.

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