Joe Marler says the chance to “shock the world” this autumn is behind the decision to make himself available for England.
The prop star has had his struggles with mental health, withdrawing from a summer tour in 2016 before retiring from Test rugby two years later. Although he reversed his decision in order to play in the last World Cup, he has not added to his 79 caps for more than a year.
Even when head coach Steve Borthwick contacted him post Six Nations to invite him to throw his hat back in the ring, Marler almost pulled out of their meeting.
“I was flirting with the thought of not going,” said the 33-year old, whose personal difficulties led him to front a documentary on mental health, especially amongst young men.
“But I thought, ‘f**k it, I’ll go see what he has to say’. The massive driver for me was imagining we could go from the low of 2019, when we lost in the final, to shock the world in 2023 and actually lift that trophy. Imagine that feeling.”
Marler still needed convincing he was not just wanted as “cannon fodder” to help prepare others for England’s World Cup squad. So he met Borthwick, and his assistant coach Kevin Sinfield, and put it to them straight.
He admitted: “I said 'I’ll be honest with you, Steve, I was going to ring you and say I’m not coming but thought I needed to come, speak to you face to face and see if you’re a liar or not.’ ‘Steve was like, ‘What!?’
"I said, ‘'I don’t trust anyone. I need to ask you if there’s a real chance of me getting in your 33? I need to look you in the eye and see whether you’ll lie to me or not. If you're saying there is a chance, that if I work hard enough I can get in that 33, I'm all yours, mate’.”
Borthwick replied: ‘I like to think you know I’m a straight enough guy that will tell you the truth. It’s going to require some hard work but, yeah, there’s a real chance.” So Marler finds himself in Verona sweating for England in temperatures of 40 Celsius, claiming to be like “an excited kid with first-day-at-school feelings”.
He is enjoying both the environment created by Borthwick and the Cumbrian’s pastoral care for those in his charge. “One of Steve’s first conversations with me was ‘How can we help you?’” revealed the Harlequin. “A lot of the things I’ve struggled with in the past have been less rugby related.
“He said, ‘If there’s anything we can do to help you off the field let us know?’ Steve’s a big family man himself and there’s a lot more family time scheduled. That’s positive for me.
“I have to take it on a week by week basis because my mind changes so quickly. But I sit in the position now where I really want to be part of that 33. Yes it will be a long campaign, but there’s always a choice. I want to go and do that. Hopefully I’ll get a chance.”
