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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Gerard Meagher

‘You can’t be shy’: Joe Marchant on French lessons, England ambitions and his new famous father-in-law

Joe Marchant with arms raised playing for Sale
Joe Marchant joined Sale in the summer having left Harlequins for Stade Français in 2023. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty Images for Sale Sharks

Joe Marchant admits he has been a disappointment. Significant developments over the summer gave rise to lofty expectations among his new Sale Sharks teammates but the 30-year-old centre knows he has not lived up to them. “When we’re playing here, people expect me to be good,” he says. “Why would it make me good in any way? I’m not the best.”

Marchant is, of course, referring to his football skills rather than the rugby ones and the added expectation to perform in a pre-training kick-about after former Newcastle and England captain Alan Shearer became his father-in-law over the summer. In every other department, Marchant has done nothing but impress in his new surroundings.

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