“I need to look you in the eye”- Joe Marler’s ‘weird’ meeting with Steve Borthwick

Joe Marler has revealed details of a ‘weird’ meeting between him and England head coach Steve Borthwick.

Borthwick convinced the loosehead prop to chase his Rugby World Cup dream but had to endure what Marler described as ’a weird encounter’ to persuade him.

A real chance

Marler is currently with the England Rugby World Cup training squad in Italy, returning to the Test set up after 18 months since his last international appearance. 

Speaking to the media from Italy, Marler said he needed a face-to-face meeting with Borthwick to determine whether he was a ‘liar’ as he wanted to know if he had a real shot of making the final squad.

“I said to him… I needed to come and actually speak to you face-to-face, look you in the eye and see if you’re a liar or not,” Marler said.

“I said, ‘I don’t trust anyone, but you can tell a lot about someone from their eye contact. 

“So I need to look you in the eye and ask you if there’s a real chance of getting in your 33 (World Cup squad). 

“But you’re saying there’s a chance if I work at it, not a guarantee but a chance, then I’m all yours’.

“Then he did the longest blink in history. It felt like a minute before finally opening his eyes and – saying, ‘Joe, there’s a real chance that if you work hard enough, you can make it in my 33’.

“So that was the meeting with Steve. It was a weird encounter – for Steve mainly.”

A third Rugby World Cup

Marler earned the last of his 79 Test caps for England during the 2022 Six Nations. 

He featured throughout the 2019 World Cup, coming off the bench in the final when South Africa defeated England.

After representing England at the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, Marler is now motivated by the possibility of a third World Cup campaign – and this time, potentially going one step further than the last time.

“Imagine if we could go from the low of the 2019 (final) to 2023 and shock the world and lift that trophy,” he added. 

“That’s a massive driver for me.”

Borthwick’s charges kick off their Rugby World Cup preparations with back-to-back fixtures against Wales on August 5 and 12 at the Principality Stadium and Twickenham, respectively.

They then face Ireland in Dublin on August 19 and finally Fiji at Twickenham on August 26 before their World Cup Pool D opener against Argentina on September 9 in Marseille. 

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