Dan Cole has shot at redemption with scrum saviour Joe Marler after World Cup humiliation

Comeback kids do not come in more unlikely pairings than Dan Cole and Joe Marler. Just a year ago, both were in the international wilderness: Marler by choice, Cole after being cast out by Eddie Jones following the harrowing 2019 World Cup final defeat to South Africa.

On Saturday, the props have a shot of redemption against the Springboks in the semi-final at the Stade de France with England head coach Steve Borthwick prioritising his strongest scrummaging unit in Cole and Marler, either side of hooker Jamie George, with George Martin adding extra heft in the second row. Four years ago, both props were replacements against South Africa but Cole was called into action after just three minutes when Kyle Sinckler was knocked unconscious.

Soon after the final, Cole was rung by a psychologist asking him if he wanted to talk about being the face of England’s collective disappointment at the hands of Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira and Springboks at the scrum.

“And I was like ‘No. No one has died,” Cole told Telegraph Sport in 2022. “Yes it was horrible and rough but it is still a game of rugby. Life goes on.’ They said, ‘but for you this was massive.’ Well it is and it isn’t. I can’t let my entire life be defined by this because I had another game in a week’s time and my kids don’t care. The first thing you want to do after a loss is play again and prove people wrong. You have people who think you are s--- because the scrum has gone badly and you have that motivation to prove them wrong.”

Still at this point, Cole had resigned himself to the fact that the end of his international career “had been an absolute dud” having not played for England since that final.

Meanwhile, Marler was also in international exile, having chosen to sit out that summer’s tour to Australia. He also did not play in that year’s autumn internationals and came very close to rejecting Borthwick’s invitation to join an alignment camp. On Saturday, the story comes full circle as they start opposite Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe.

The narrative, however, is not complete without reflecting on the 2019 final. Back in Yokohama, former England prop David Flatman was on the sidelines as an analyst for ITV and after 25 minutes with the Springboks already in the ascendancy at the scrum he messaged his producer, not to highlight Cole’s struggles but to call for Marler to replace loosehead Mako Vunipola.

“In that final a lot of weight came across the scrum and it almost ended up being a three on two with Mako Vunipola almost discarded to the left,” Flatman said. “F----- off out the side as we call it. What Marler does is that he squares up tightheads and it is very difficult to bore in on the angle against Joe Marler because he gets his right shoulder all the way out.

“Joe is very difficult to cheat. If you are going to beat him it is going to be power or strength and Joe has loads of that. I think it will be fascinating. Dan will be much better off in this game than he was four years ago because he has England’s best scrummaging loosehead with him.”

Indeed Flatman points out that England turned the tables on South Africa at the scrum once Marler came on in the second half against ‘Bomb squad’ members Kitshoff and Vincent Koch. In perhaps a further portent, Marler got the better of his head to head against Malherbe in Harlequins’ Champions Cup defeat to the Stormers in April this year while Wilco Louw also gave Kitshoff a tough day at the office.

Marler and Cole are set piece specialists. Replacements Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler offer far more around the pitch, indeed Cole did not touch the ball once in the quarter-final against Fiji, but that is just him filling his brief. At Leicester, Borthwick told Cole to forget about being an all-rounder and just focus on scrummaging, mauling and tackling in that order. Flanker Courtney Lawes calls him the most selfless player in the squad. “He’s not worried about any kind of glory.”

Conversely, South Africa’s main scrummaging weapon is on the bench in the form of loosehead Ox Nche, who receives Flatman’s highest form of approval. “Ox is a really awkward shape,” Flatman said. “It is like scrummaging against an Atlas Stone or a cannonball. He is not tall, has a massive chest and because he is so low that he does not find it difficult to get underneath you. Ultimately, looseheads want to get underneath you and drive tightheads backwards and up. If you think that he wants to get under Cole or Sinckler’s sternum and drive them upwards, he is in a good spot to do that because of his body shape.”

Borthwick rates the Springbok scrum as the best in the world. Not only does it act as an attacking weapon but it is a key part of their psyche. When Damian Willemse called for a scrum from a mark in the first half of their quarter-final victory against France, it was a statement of intent.

According to Flatman, just for England to achieve parity would act as redemption for Cole.

“I know Coley well enough to know that while he will keep a lid on his emotions, he will be very, very driven not to go backwards,” Flatman said. “Dan is looking to exorcise demons on a very similar stage, against a different guy but the same team. If England dominate the scrums then you are on to a winner and it is a massive achievement. If the scrums are a non-entity then that is still a massive achievement.”