Eddie Jones to talk to Marler after reports prop will quit rugby
England boss Eddie Jones has urged Joe Marler not to quit rugby after the controversy surrounding his final game of the Six Nations.
However, Jones' warns that ultimately the decision will lie with the controversial prop.
WATCH: Ellis Genge of England and Leicester, took on Aston Hewitt of the Dragons, in the last sixteen of the RugbyPass FIFA Pros competition.
Marler was caught on camera appearing to momentarily hold Welsh skipper Alun Wyn Jones genitals and was subsequently given a 10-week ban by the RFU.
He received a torrent of abuse online and it was reported that the loosehead was considering packing in the sport completely.
Jones said: “I think you have just got to look at the Beast, who was probably at his best in the World Cup in 2019 at the age of 34.
“Joe is still a relatively young man and has got a lot of rugby ahead of him — but you have to have the desire to want to keep playing and only Joe knows that.
“At the end of the day he is a great player but we want players who want to play for England and he will make that decision.
“There is a lot of depth to him as a character.
“He has obviously made some mistakes but he is a great team man, he is good rugby player and he is a good person and I look forward to having a chat to him at the appropriate time."
“We keep in contact with texts here and there.
“We were due to catch up in Horsham a couple of weeks ago but social distancing rules came in so we were unable to do that. But I will catch up with Joe face to face.”
England are set to tour Japan this summer, although the pandemic could be a stop it yet.
“We were going to pick the strongest side available.
“There were certain guidelines in place about who was eligible and who was not. If the tour goes ahead, we will look again. Japan are the ninth-ranked team in the world.
“They’ve beaten Ireland and Scotland over the past three years, so we want to be taking a strong team.”
Latest Comments
I didn't mean to sound down on Dmac. Just looking hard at the bench sub's role of providing impact. I don't think he can do that at 15, and the bench is not really about injury cover anymore (you need to maximise it's use more than that).
He's my first choice of any New Zealander for the 10 jersey with the All Blacks.
Go to commentsAgreed. And I don't have much more to say on it, but I had been having one thought that sprang to mind at the tail of this discussion, and that is that it's not all about Razor.
It's not about any coach being "right". I think a lot of selections can become defense and while it doesn't really apply here I really enjoyed that Andy Farrell just gave into the public demands and changed out his team for the change that had been asked for. Like why not? This is the countries team, keep them engaged. The whole reason i've only just finished watching the game was because I wasn't interested in watching any of the selected players against a team like Italy (still actually enjoyed the first half with the contest Italy made of it).
Faz leap frogs a younger half back into start. He hands the golden child the game over July's golden child. He gives an old winger a go, a new flanker and hooker. None of them really did any good, certainly not enough to suggest they should have been promoted above others, but who cares? You won, and you gave the country what they wanted, that's all that matters after all. It's for the country, not the one in charge who thinks they have to have their own pied piper tune playing.
Go to comments