England: Timeline of Joe Marler retirement decision revealed amidst haka controversy

Following today’s news of Joe Marler’s retirement from international rugby, speculation abounds on social media about the timing of the England prop’s decision.

On Sunday, the 95-cap front-rower announced that he had hung up his Test boots, bringing down the curtain on a senior England career that began back in 2012.

The outspoken Harlequins prop had put himself in the full glare of the spotlight earlier this week with his post on X that New Zealand‘s haka should be “binned”.

Not tweet related

However, Planet Rugby understands that the tweet did not cause the retirement decision and it was other factors that led to the 34-year-old hanging up his boots.

Last night, England head coach Steve Borthwick told journalists that he was speaking to Marler on Sunday with a view to an announcement about his Test future.

However, sources close to the England camp confirmed to Planet Rugby that Marler had spent some time thinking about his future after the England training camp to Girona and the weekend thereafter.

It’s understood that he told the team and head coach Borthwick early last week and a decision was reached to wait until after the Test against New Zealand on Saturday to make a formal announcement.

Joe Marler makes decision on international rugby as ‘one-of-a-kind’ personality bows out

It was stressed clearly to Planet Rugby that the timeline of the infamous haka tweet had no bearing whatsoever on the retirement decision and that Marler had informed England about his intentions before his post.

It was also confirmed to this outlet that the team management had no issue with the content or timing of Marler’s tweet and that his decision for retirement was wholly his own, based fully and exclusively on the reasons stated in Marler’s personal announcement, stressing that him leaving camp when he did and the incident on social media were totally and categorically unrelated.

Marler played at three Rugby World Cups for England and was part of the side that reached the final in 2019 in Japan before losing to South Africa in the final.

As he highlights in his video announcement, his impressive career has seen lots of highs and lows and it was clearly an emotional moment to retire from action.

‘The real one this time’

“This is the real one this time,” he said. “It’s time for me to move on. The time has come for me to finally hang up my England rugby boots.

“I feel very sad but very proud to have been given the chance and the opportunities over the years to represent England and I’ve got so many fond memories of wearing the white shirt.

“I’ve been really, really lucky to experience both the mega highs and the mega lows in an England shirt and I’ll cherish all of them because they all count.

“I can’t wait to sit back and be one of you guys and enjoy where this England team goes moving forward as a proper England rugby fan. Thank you for everything.”

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