France vs England: Mako Vunipola ready to carry Grand Slam charge in Paris if Joe Marler is banned

Ready to roll: Maku Vunipola
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
Chris Jones15 March 2016

Amid all the controversy over Joe Marler, the bottom line for England is that they can win the Grand Slam in Paris on Saturday without the Harlequins prop in the No1 jersey.

If Marler is banned for the forearm which connected with Wales prop Rob Evans during Saturday’s 25-21 win, his place will be taken by Mako Vunipola, who is having one of his best seasons for Saracens, with the replacements’ position going to Wasps’s Matt Mullan, a proven England international.

But the incident is not Marler’s only indiscretion in that match — the Six Nations disciplinary officer is also examining the prop’s shout of “gypsy boy” at opposite number Samson Lee.

Eddie Jones will have hoped for a smooth build-up to the France game which could see England register a first Slam since 2003.

But that has not been possible thanks to Marler, whose on-field persona — he is always up for verbals and a bit of pushing and shoving — has ignited a storm of criticism just when the team should be basking in the glory of having finally become Six Nations winners following four second-place finishes under former coach Stuart Lancaster.

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It is ironic that one of the main hallmarks of Lancaster’s regime was a zero tolerance for any behaviour that brought the team negative publicity and now they have achieved a Championship-winning status having had the shackles taken off by head coach Jones.

However, it would be wrong to see Jones as a man who is happy to allow players rope to hang themselves and he has made it very clear to Marler (right) that his actions against Wales were “unacceptable”. And he has warned him about what will be expected when the Harlequins player next pulls on a England jersey.

Of course, Marler could be found not guilty of striking an opponent at a disciplinary hearing this week and may avoid action over the racist comment to Lee which would then make him available for the France game.

In that situation it is highly unlikely Marler would start the biggest game in Jones’s time as head coach because of the disruption to his training week with the rest of the squad — having to attend a hearing and deal with the mental pressure generated by the controversial incidents. Marler would most likely be on the replacements’ bench in that situation.

Jones said: “If we lose Joe then Mako Vunipola would come into the team and Matt Mullan, who has been training with us during the Six Nations, would move into the replacements. There’s a judicial process in place so we’ll let that run its course. At the moment Joe is available and he will be available until the judiciary says he’s not.”

Jones believes Marler does fully understand the mistake he has made by calling Lee “gypsy boy” and added: “It’s not in the spirit of the game. Joe understands that and that’s why he apologised straight away. People makes mistakes, we all make mistakes. The fact that he apologised at half-time is a real testament to Joe’s character.

“You don’t apologise at half-time in a game of rugby unless you mean in.”

QBE Business Insurance is the proud sponsor of England Rugby. In partnership with the RFU, QBE recruited and trained 2,015 new Level 2 rugby coaches through the QBE Coaching Club. For more information go to QBEeurope.com

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