Marler announces international retirement

England and Harlequins prop Joe Marler is set to announce his retirement from international rugby at the age of 28 for personal reasons according to The Telegraph.

The Harlequins player has won 59 England caps since making his debut in 2012 and toured New Zealand in 2017 with the British and Irish Lions.

He withdrew from head coach Eddie Jones’ latest England squad on Sunday, however the 28-year old is still available for Harlequins on Saturday for their match against Gloucester.

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England face South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia in the November autumn internationals.

The Harlequins loosehead, who has been capped 59 times by England, told Quins TV he was making the decision to spend more time with his family.

Marler, 28, said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to represent my country and of course this has been a very difficult decision to make, but I have decided to retire from playing international rugby with immediate effect to spend more time with my family.”

29-year old Exeter player Ben Moon has been called up as a replacement for Marler. Moon has played 223 times for Exeter and he is their longest serving player after making is debut in 2008.

England head coach Eddie Jones had some words to say on the news of Marler’s retirement saying: “I’m very disappointed for the team.

“Joe has been an integral member since 2015 when I arrived, and obviously before that also.

“In my era we’ve really enjoyed him playing for the team, he is an honest, hard-working player. He has made a decision based on personal grounds and we understand his reasoning. He is a good guy and we will miss him greatly.”

🗣 "When I got the call-up for the next squad, I thought the time was right to make the call and concentrate on my family and the Club moving forward."

📽 @JoeMarler on his decision to retire from international rugby

📲 Full story https://t.co/3X8NnsnU8K pic.twitter.com/U7RdabAC1l

— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) September 26, 2018

Ahead of the November Internationals an England squad will be named on 18 October before they fly to Portugal on 24 October to begin their final preparations for the four-Test series.

England will play South Africa (3 November), New Zealand (10 November), Japan (17 November) and Australia (24 November) at Twickenham Stadium.