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Joe Marler candidly gives reason for 'slower than expected' recovery

By Josh Raisey
England’s Joe Marler looks on during the captain’s run in Auckland on July 12, 2024, ahead of their rugby Test match against New Zealand on July 13. (Photo by DAVID ROWLAND / AFP)

Joe Marler did not shy away from the truth recently when explaining why his recovery from a broken foot has been “slower than expected”.

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The England and Harlequins loosehead prop sustained the injury in the first Test between England and the All Blacks in July, with his club head coach Danny Wilson expecting him to be out for 12-14 weeks.

“It’s going to be a 12-14 week injury, it’s not a 12-weeker where he can come back in nine,” Wilson said in August.

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Jason Ryan and Ethan Blackadder respond to SARU’s apology over the haka interference at Ellis Park

The All Blacks accepted the South African Rugby Union’s apology over Saturday’s haka interference, but they still fired a dig at their hosts.

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Jason Ryan and Ethan Blackadder respond to SARU’s apology over the haka interference at Ellis Park

The All Blacks accepted the South African Rugby Union’s apology over Saturday’s haka interference, but they still fired a dig at their hosts.

“It’s an injury that will take that amount of time. That at the moment hasn’t changed, but I need to get to the bottom of it from today’s assessment because he’s had a bit more assessment today.”

As a guest on TNT Sport’s coverage of Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Brighton on Saturday alongside club and country teammate Marcus Smith, Marler gave an update on his progress with the new season fast approaching.

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“Slower than expected,” Marler said when asked by host Jules Breach how the recovery was going.

“That’s probably because I’ve been non-compliant with the non-weight-bearing. I was supposed to be non-weight-bearing and in a boot for four weeks and I’ve been away for five weeks with my wife and four kids. So when they said you’ve got to be off your feet for four weeks sat on your bum doing nothing, I said ‘can you tell my wife that? Because that’s not happening.’

“And of course it was festival season, so I had to go to a lot of festivals. So it’s been a bit slower than expected. I’ll be back soon, let’s go with that one.”

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Harlequins get their Gallagher Premiership season underway against Sale Sharks on September 22 at the Salford Community Stadium, and while the 34-year-old will miss that, he will be targeting a return before Steve Borthwick names his England squad of the Autumn Nations Series.

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G
GS 54 minutes ago
Bundee Aki sends new reminder to All Blacks he's the one that got away

Interestingly, your dishonesty in not being truthful reflects on you. As explained to you and probably by many other people in the past, NZ is a multi-cultural country with a large percentage of the population being of Polynesian heritage.


Let me share a personal story that illustrates this. My cousin, a good Kiwi girl, fell in love and married a Samoan over 40 years ago. They started a family, and now their daughter is about to start her own.


Now, when the child is older, he/she can choose to play for ABs or Samoa—ABs via birth and Samoa via Grandparents. It is probably very likely, as the husband is a former AB, so a professional rugby career is a distinct possibility.


If he plays for ABs - given your state of mind, NZ has stolen him from Samoa...


There is natural immigration between NZ and the Islands. They are part of our community, and kids do come down on rugby scholarships to learn rugby and get an education.


On the other hand, Ireland specifically targeted adult professional rugby players, who they termed "project players," to cap them for Ireland. Among those numbers are people like Jarrod Payne, Aki, Lowe, CJ Stander, etc.


This "project "was run and funded by the IRFU to directly assist the Irish rugby team in addressing depth issues.


20% of the Irish run on team vs NZ at the WC, were in effect "project players" - maybe Jamieson GP is little different as don't think he was deliberately targeted unlike Aki/Lowe.


That you can honestly compare natural immigration between Islands and the Pacific, where the cultural makeup is similar vs. a targeted project set up by the IRFU, shows just how inherently dishonest you are.


The foolish thing about it is it embarrasses the Irish team when it's not necessary. As shown by the last test against the Boks, Ireland didn't need these project players to win, as they are a quality side without those players.


Instead, all they have done is give people the ability to detract from any achievements by pointing out the Irish brought their way to success.

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