England's Marler fuelled by red wine, adrenaline for Springboks clash
Marler is set for a role off the bench in what will be a rematch of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final.
LONDON (AFP) - Joe Marler said on Friday he hopes a combination of red wine and adrenaline will prove a winning formula when England face South Africa at Twickenham this weekend.
Marler, having been in coronavirus-enforced quarantine in the build-up to Saturday s clash, is set for a role off the bench in what will be a rematch of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final.
But the experienced prop, with 73 England caps behind him, seems certain to feature against a South African front-row renowned for their scrummaging ferocity and with an entire replacement trio -- the so-called "Bomb Squad" -- all primed to come on during the game.
England will be without a number of players including Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ellis Genge due to a combination of illness and injury, with Marler denied a starting role after his spell of Covid self-isolation.
But the Harlequins front-rower has kept fit in his own unique way, with both England and South Africa looking to complete a clean sweep of wins in their end-of-year campaigns.
"I ve got a gym in my garage, so I kept on top of that," Marler said.
"And then I tucked into a bottle of red (wine) a day just to keep things going and I ve managed to make it back."
"I m really grateful for the opportunity to come back in and try to contribute in some way," added the 31-year-old, who came off the bench when the Springboks overwhelmed England 32-12 in the World Cup final in Japan.
"Head on. I ve thought about this," said Marler, who played in England s Autumn Nations Series opening rout of Tonga before sitting out a 32-15 win over Australia a week later.
"You know when you get adrenaline and adrenaline is used for fight or flight... that s genetics, Neanderthals, the first men... the reason was to work out whether you could stay and fight or leg it because you re really scared," he added.
"That s how I feel about the Springbok front rowers and their scrummaging and their passion for it. It s very much fight or flight and I run towards the fight side of it.
"I love it because all six of them -- and you could even look at their third-string front rows as well -- are arguably world-class operators.
"And that s what I want to do. I want to test myself against the best in the hottest environment and I m really excited about it."
