Joe Marler has left the England squad preparing for Saturday’s autumn internationals curtain-raiser against New Zealand for personal reasons, the Guardian understands.
The 34-year-old joined up with the rest of the squad at England’s Bagshot base on Sunday but it is understood that Marler informed Steve Borthwick of his decision and left the camp at the start of the week.
Marler chose to leave before Borthwick had revealed his team to face the All Blacks with Ellis Genge named to start at loosehead prop on Saturday and the Harlequins youngster Fin Baxter on the bench.
At this stage it is unclear whether Marler, who currently has 95 caps, will return to the squad on Sunday, when England will regather in Bagshot after the All Blacks match, or play any part in the rest of England’s autumn campaign with Australia, South Africa and Japan also due at Twickenham.
On Tuesday, having already left camp, and four days before England face the All Blacks, Marler wrote on social media that, “the haka is ridiculous, it needs binning”. In another post he added: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the [rugby] league boys did last week.”
Marler then deactivated his X account only for it to return on Wednesday accompanied by a new post clarifying his views: “Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses. Big Love x. Also needed to satisfy my narcissism.”
The player last appeared for England on the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand but sustained a broken foot early in the first Test against the All Blacks. He has battled back to fitness and made his first appearance of the season off the bench against Saracens earlier this month while he took part in last week’s warm-weather training camp in Girona.
He has spoken candidly in the past about his struggles with spending long spells in camp away from his family. He pulled out of a tour to Australia in 2016 and officially retired from international duty in 2018 before reversing that decision to appear in the 2019 World Cup.
Marler was convinced by Borthwick to make himself available for last year’s World Cup, having previously not appeared for England since the 2022 Six Nations but when discussing his decision to return to the international fold, it was clear that he took some convincing.
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Genge missed the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand with a calf injury but has impressed for Bristol this season while Baxter has continued his upward trajectory and earlier this season cited Marler’s mentoring as a key part in his development.
Asked about his loosehead options this week, Borthwick said: “It’s another position where we have a lot of quality there. I’m delighted Ellis is back. He’s a world-class player and has been in excellent condition. He wanted to be in Japan and New Zealand during the summer, it’s been an enforced break and he’s used it really well. Fin Baxter, his emergence through last season and into the Test arena in the summer, and watching what he’s done for his club side this season – I think you would agree he is playing really well. I’m looking forward to seeing both of those guys go this weekend.”