Marler: The narrative of a weak Wallabies scrum was changed in 2015

Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 9:00 PM
Iain Payten
by Iain Payten
Joe Marler says narratives of weak Australian scrums are far gone. Photo: Getty Images
Joe Marler says narratives of weak Australian scrums are far gone. Photo: Getty Images

England prop Joe Marler has a big personality but a self-confessed short memory.

Particularly around the events of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where a “scrum straight Joe” campaign targeted his scrummaging style.

"No recollection of that whatsoever,” Marler said on Tuesday in Japan.

And what about the Bob Dwyer tweet in 2016? 

(Where Marler was fined for calling Dywer a “wanker” on Twitter after the former Wallabies coach questioned Dan Coles’ scrummaging style).

"No recollection of that either,” Marler quipped.

Marler had a wry grin on his face for both answers but when it comes to the forthcoming quarter-final against the Wallabies in Oita, it turns out memories of the 2015 World Cup campaign aren’t far from his mind.

But not for the reason you might expect. 

Marler was once a wild child of England rugby, racking up bans, controversies and headlines in equal quantities, but the prop is now an older, calmer and more “positive” player.

There is certainly no element, for Marler, of wanting seeking revenge for the Wallabies’ 33-13 victory at Twickenham sending the English crashing out of their own Rugby World Cup in the pool stages.

“No. That’s not what drives me. That was an experience that happened but is irrelevant to me now,” he said.

But the part of 2015 that will inform Marler when the two teams do battle again in a World Cup on Saturday - in which the loser will go home with a unsatisfactory quarter-final exit - is the power of the Australian scrum that night.

Australia extracted six scrum penalties from the English scrum, and whether vigilant about it given plenty of off-field noise about Marler’s angling, referees pinged the big prop several times for angling.

For the 62-Test capped Marler, it ended the days of Australia’s reputation being a good team with a weak scrum.


"Traditionally, in a different generation there were always question marks over Australia being weak up front and being wet in scrum time,” Marler said.

"They showed in 2015 when Ledesma was there that he transformed them a bit and he made a huge impact.”

The Australian front row has changed since then but not entirely. Stephen Moore has moved on but Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu remain. 

"You’ve got Scott Sio who I think’s got 70 caps, top quality loosehead,” Marler continued.

“(Tolu) Latu, he’s a huge leader for them, big big unit; then you’ve got young (Alan) Alaalatoa, who’s been going really well that tournament. So that narrative (of a weak Wallabies scrum) is no longer the case.”

Marler retired from Test rugby in late 2018, to dedicate more time with his family, but answered the call from Eddie Jones earlier this year to come out of retirement and lace up the boots for the World Cup.

“I want to be part of a squad that wins the World Cup,” Marler said.

"I want to be part of a squad that wins a World Cup. That was part of the reason I came out of retirement. I could see the potential in this group and I wanted a taste of that. That's ultimately what’s driving me on for the next couple of weeks."

Australia plays England in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Saturday October 19 at Oita Stadium, kicking off at 4:15pm local, 6:15pm AEDT, LIVE on Foxtel, Network Ten and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO, Rugby Xplorer and Amazon Alexa.

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