England rugby star reveals meeting in Horsham in ‘posh hotel’ before Eddie Jones took him back into the squad

Harlequin Joe Marler, 31, returns to the matchday 23 for England’s clash with Tonga on Saturday.

The Eastbourne-born 72-cap international is on the bench after playing in fine form for his London-based club.

And now he has revealed that a meeting with England head coach Eddie Jones in Horsham was the catalyst for his return.

In a video shared by England Rugby on Instagram, he said: “The boss, AKA Eddie, has always been particulalry good with me seeing as I have been in and out of contention.

“He’s always appreciated my honesty. I’ll always be grateful to him.

“[He’s] given me opportunity to come back and have another crack at it.”

Eddie met with the prop forward over the summer for coffee, Joe said.

He added: “[He] said he was down in Horsham. If the boss is asking for a coffee I’m intrigued.”

Joe said before the meeting he had to pick up a motorhome, which he drove to the ‘posh hotel’.

The front row, famed for his eye-catching haircuts and scrummaging technique, added: “We just sat and chewed the fat and spoke about how he sees the squad moving forward for the next two years – wheter I wanted to be a part of it.

The forward joked: “I bit his hand off. He didn’t appreciate me biting him – he could get TB. I ain’t got TB but I could get it.

“So we had to patch that up, put a sticker on it. Like a plaster, a sticky plaster.

“And I left.”

Marler started his career at Haywards Heath RFC in Sussex where he played in the same side as fellow England international Billy Twelvetrees.

He went viral in November 2019 for a hilarious video of him horsing around.