Former England prop Joe Marler would consider coming out of international retirement for England at the Rugby World Cup if he is needed.
The loosehead retired from international rugby in November last year but admits that although unlikely if there was an injury crisis in his position, he would help out Eddie Jones’ side.
“If they needed me to go out there and help them out, I’d have the conversation with my wife and think about it and say ‘yeah all right, I’ll help you out’. If it was an SOS scenario it would definitely be something I’d consider, but they’re not in an SOS scenario,” he said.
Marler believes that they have plenty of options in his department to cope without him and is certain that Mako Vunipola will be back from injury to take his place at the tournament.
“Mako will be sweet, they’ve got Ben Moon, they’ve got Ellis Genge, they’ve got Alec Hepburn. They’ll go well. Me and Eddie have kept in contact on a casual basis, exchanged some messages about particular wines that we like, but nothing more than that. If they were desperate I would give them a hand, but they’re not, so, I’m happy where I’m at. I look forward to watching it as a fan and hopefully they go well,” he added.
The 59-capped Red Rose has been hugely impressed by the players that have stepped in to help out in Vunipola’s absence and thinks that it would possibly be disrespectful if he was called up due the amount of work others have put into getting a seat on the plane to Japan.
“For me, I wouldn’t be able to just walk up and just immerse myself in it all again. Boys have been grafting for years. And massively there’s a respect for the boys who have stepped in when Mako was injured during the year. Not only has Mako been brilliant, but the boys came in, stepped up and proved their worth there. For the whole 12-18 months they have been doing that, so if someone went ‘I’ll come along even though I have done no work, done nothing’, then that is disrespectful,” he finished up.
Marler will face an inexperienced England XV when he lines out for the Barbarians on Sunday and although unlikely there is still a small chance that we could yet see the Harlequins man in Japan come September.
