Joe Marler to lead talks with RFU and clubs over player welfare

Joe Marler has revealed that he will lead crucial talks with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs over player welfare in his new role as performance director for Team England Rugby.

The former England prop, who retired from all rugby at the end of November, has claimed that players “were not looked after for a long period of time”, with Marler now spearheading talks with clubs selecting England players beyond their perceived playing limits.

Speaking on the For The Love of Rugby podcast with Ben Youngs and Dan Cole (listen below), Marler stressed that he will help players who are “too scared” to approach their directors of rugby about needing a rest. Marler revealed he had already been in discussions with Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall over Nick Isiekwe’s playing time.

Telegraph Sport understands that Marler is taking on the role on an interim basis until a permanent appointment is made.

Match game limits for England’s elite player squad (EPS) have been reduced to 30 match involvements, with Team England Rugby, the players’ representative group, predicting that they “are going to be exceeded by pretty much every member of the EPS squad” – according to Marler – given playing for only a minute constitutes a match involvement.

Marler added that he was now building relationships with directors of rugby, to “take the pressure away from players” in those conversations around rest. Marler added that it had been “hilarious” speaking with McCall having played against his side for so long.

Regarding his title, Marler said: “Although it sounds posh and official, it’s basically having the backs of the England rugby team and doing a lot of the work for them, admin work, conversations between DOR [directors of rugby], clubs and the RFU to make sure that they feel supported in decisions from operations or welfare.”

Asked by Youngs what would happen if a player was picked to start for the British and Irish Lions this summer but had gone over their quota, Marler explained there would have been “so many exemptions” for the top players, revealing that an exemption process with representatives from Premiership Rugby, the RFU, Rugby Players Association, Team England Rugby and an independent chair would have to rule on an exemption for each player.

While Marler added that it was unlikely that a player was going to be told they could not play in the Champions Cup final, the onus was on everyone to see what difference could be made the following season to be given a longer rest period, or if they can be rested in some games towards the end of the current season.

He remarked that Cole and Youngs were looking at him and thinking “how the f--- has this prat got involved in a relatively serious job?” to which Youngs responded that actually Marler would be “the perfect candidate to do it. Because you stand up for what you believe in and you will. And you’re not worried about upsetting people on the way”.

Marler responded: “The boys needed to be looked after for a long period of time. We weren’t looked after with our previous representation. So we went, right, we’re setting this Team England Rugby up. We’re moving away from the previous representation. And we are going to take control of it.

“We are going to actually represent ourselves, look after the boys. Because who better to understand what it’s like, how hard it is being an England rugby player and the environment and the toll that it can take on you than the boys that have actually been involved in there.”