Joe Marler says he can scarcely recall being an underdog at Twickenham in the wake of Eddie Jones tipping Ireland as favourites for Saturday’s clash against England.
Jones has billed Ireland as favourites for the match at Twickenham, adding they are “the most cohesive side in the world”.
Marler accepts Jones can say what he wants, but the prop has admitted personally he rarely feels like an underdog at Twickenham.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt like an underdog at Twickenham,” he said. “Unless it was… no… maybe New Zealand once.
“There haven’t been many times at Twickenham. I’ve never thought: ‘I feel like an underdog this week’. I look at it and think, I know how good Ireland are. I know how good their tightheads are. I know how good their pack is. I know how good their attacking system is.
“We all look at that and we know how good they are, so we have to be right on the money. We have to be sugar hot in order to get the win – and it helps that we are at home, with the Twickenham crowd.
“So that’s my answer. Eddie can obviously say whatever he wants, in whatever way he wants to.
“If it’s being bigged up this week about how good Ireland are… it’s subjective, isn’t it?
“Some people might think Ireland are really good and some people might think they are average – it makes no difference.”
