Marler retires from ‘dream bubble’ England career

Loosehead prop Joe Marler has retired from international rugby with 95 England caps to his name.

It comes a week after he left the England training squad for “personal reasons”.

Last week he also caused a stir for stating the New Zealand cultural pre-match challenge, the Haka, was “ridiculous” and “needs binning”.

“Playing for England always felt like I was living in a dream bubble,” Marler said on Instagram.

“I kept waiting for it to pop and me to suddenly go back to being a gobby, overweight 16-year-old again. But you know when it’s time.

“I can’t do what I used to do as well as I once could. I can’t keep talking about my family being my priority unless they actually are.

“I want to keep untarnished all these memories of my career, both good and bad. I don’t want to leave my house with my kids crying. I’m ready to make the change.”

Marler is set to continue playing for Harlequins for the remainder of the season with a decision on his club future not yet certain.

The prop also toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2017, though he did not feature in the three Tests.

Marler is a colourful character and has had a number of controversial moments in the sport, including a 10-week ban for grabbing the genitals of Alun Wyn Jones.

He has spoken openly about struggling with mental health issues.

“It’s the friendship and respect of teammates like Dan [Cole, Leicester Tigers and England prop] that I’ll cherish the most,” Marler’s statement added. “The fun we had reaching the Rugby World Cup final in Japan in 2019. Coming off together in the semi-final against South Africa in 2023, sitting down on the bench, patting each other on the leg and saying we did alright there, old son.

“Rugby has taken me places I could never have imagined. We had a big map of the world up on our wall in the kitchen. We put pins in the places we’ve been. The kids have pins in four or five holiday places, Daisy the same. They can’t believe how many I have stuck in. Dad, have you really been there? What’s Uruguay? When you come from a little town in East Sussex, that’s not normal. It’s a wonderful thing.”