Veteran prop Joe Marler left the England camp on Monday due to ‘personal reasons’, according to reports. The 34-year-old was initially called up ahead of Saturday’s game against New Zealand but will play no part in the match at Twickenham.
It was reported earlier this week that Marler had left the camp, with ESPN putting his departure down to ‘personal reasons’. It is not yet clear if he will return ahead of England’s meeting with Australia next week.
Steve Borthwick is not intending to call up another player to replace Marler for the game against the All Blacks. Ellis Genge will start at loosehead, while Fin Baxter has been named on the bench.
Marler is one of England’s longest-serving players, having won 95 caps for his country since making his debut in 2012. He has spent time away from the group in the past, retiring from international duty in 2018 before reversing his decision a year later.
He sparked a backlash earlier this week by describing the Haka as ‘ridiculous’ and something that ‘needs binning’ in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“It’s only good when teams front it with some sort of reply,” he added. “Like the league boys did last week.”
Marler was referring to the England rugby league team staring down the Siva Tau, which was performed by Samoa before their friendly match in Wigan last weekend.
He deactivated his account shortly after making the post before clarifying his comments on Wednesday. He said: “Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture.”
England will go into Saturday’s match with the aim of securing their first victory over the All Blacks in five years. Their last win came at the Rugby World Cup in 2019, when the two nations met in the semi-finals. England went on to lose to South Africa in the final.
They faced each other twice in the summer, with New Zealand winning both fixtures. England have only ever beaten the All Blacks on eight occasions, with their opponents winning 35 times and the other two games ending in draws.
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