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The November fitness race injured Joe Marler is facing with England
By PA
Joe Marler will miss the start of Harlequins’ season with the broken foot sustained during England’s summer tour to place doubt over his availability for the autumn. Marler limped off 17 minutes into the 16-15 defeat by New Zealand in Dunedin on July 6 and was replaced by his Quins teammate Fin Baxter before being ruled out of the second Test.
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The veteran prop was wearing a boot to protect his left foot at the club’s open training session at the Stoop on Wednesday afternoon and head coach Danny Wilson revealed he will be unavailable until October.
“It’s going to be a 12-14 week injury, it’s not a 12-weeker where he can come back in nine. It’s an injury that will take that amount of time,” Wilson said. “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.”
If the worst-case scenario unfolds, Marler will sit out the opening four rounds of the Gallagher Premiership, at which point Steve Borthwick will be naming England’s squad for their pre-autumn training camp in Girona. It would leave the 34-year-old with little time to prove he is ready for international rugby ahead of the All Blacks’ visit to Twickenham on November 2.
Present at Harlequins’ open training session was Leigh Halfpenny, Wales’ Test centurion who was a surprise signing in July having completed an injury-hit spell at the Crusaders in New Zealand. Halfpenny, widely regarded as one of the game’s great full-backs, is determined to claim a starting place as well as passing on his knowledge.
“Primarily I want to play and push for the position. That comes through earning the right and working hard because there’s great competition in the back three,” the 35-year-old said. “But alongside that it’s about helping the younger lads wherever I can and I’m really happy to do that.”
