Joe Marler has revealed that it was his tearful daughter who convinced him to retire from England duty.
The Harlequins star, 34, withdrew from the autumn England camp for ‘personal reasons’ before announcing the surprise news that he would be retiring.
The prop, who earned 95 England caps and has played for Harlequins since 2009, revealed that it was an emotional conversation with his daughter Maggie which convinced him to retire.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “I did the Girona training week but at the end of the last training session, knackered, I sat in the sun thinking, ‘I can’t do this anymore’.”
He added that: “The game’s passed me by now, I can’t keep up. It was sad to admit. How long can you flog a dead horse?”
Speaking about his daughter Maggie, he explained: “On the Sunday night, when I went back into camp, I’d sort of made my mind up. It wasn’t a kneejerk thing.
“My daughter Maggie was crying her eyes out about me leaving asking, ‘Why do you have to keep going away?’ and I was like ‘Awh, it’s my job’. It’s my job but there’s always a choice.”
He explained that he had gone in to see England boss Steve Borthwick in person: “I’ve got too much respect for the bloke to just call him up.”
According to Marler, boss Borthwick was surprised and ‘gutted’ by the news.
“He came back with, ‘Do you not want one more game? One more against South Africa, you and Dan Cole’. There was three per cent of me in that moment that thought, ‘maybe’, but I’d made up my mind.”
When asked about his future he admitted that he would ‘love to go in the jungle’ for I’m A Celebrity, although he is aware of the risk his former team-mate James Haskell faced, who said he was ‘edited badly’ because he was so hungry.
Marler broke the news of his retirement via two posts on X, formerly Twitter, last Sunday. He wrote that ‘you know when it’s time’.
“It’s time for me to move on… I don’t want to leave the house with my kids crying. I’m ready to make the change,” he wrote.
“Rugby has taken me placed I could have never imagined… I’m incredibly grateful I got to play 95 times for my country.”
Marler retires with his final England appearance coming in July against the All Blacks, though he broke his foot and was substituted after 17 minutes.
England face Australia on Saturday afternoon in their next autumn international match.
