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Joe Marchant admits he has been a disappointment. Significant developments over the summer gave rise to lofty expectations among his new Sale Sharks teammates but the 30-year-old centre knows he has not lived up to them. “When we’re playing here, people expect me to be good,” he says. “Why would it make me good in any way? I’m not the best.”
Marchant is, of course, referring to his football skills rather than the rugby ones and the added expectation to perform in a pre-training kick-about after former Newcastle and England captain Alan Shearer became his father-in-law over the summer. In every other department, Marchant has done nothing but impress in his new surroundings.
The director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, has been blown away by Marchant’s qualities and after returning to England after three years in France with Stade Français, Steve Borthwick seems sure to be taking advantage too. As we will soon discover, Marchant’s spell in France might never have happened had Borthwick been appointed a month or two earlier but he regrets nothing about his time in Paris and it does not take long in his company to see how much he has benefited from it.
He is always perfectly polite but some of Marchant’s media appearances during England’s 2023 World Cup campaign could be filed under forgettable. After three years in Paris, however, he is markedly more engaging as he prepares for his Prem comeback. He has been getting stick for slipping into French during training sessions and styling out a call of “J’ai”, effectively “my ball,” into “Joe’s”, but that demonstrates the level to which Marchant threw himself into the Top 14 and the Parisian lifestyle. Marchant’s aerial ability was valued by Borthwick to the extent he often appeared on the wing but in Sanderson’s eyes it is his communication as a defensive coordinator that sets him apart.
When it comes to identifying areas of his game that improved in France, Marchant agrees. “A big one is my communication because obviously there was a language barrier there and you can’t be shy,” he says. “You have just got to be not afraid of making mistakes and you have got to pick it up on the run and communicate with everyone on the pitch and try to get clarity on what you are trying to say, I think that has helped loads. Here, there’s no translation in my head as I am going to call something. I am literally seeing something and I am able to communicate it. I know exactly what I’m saying and this is how I’m going to do it.
“It’s a beautiful city with so much to do and I really enjoyed learning the language. I wasn’t afraid to make mistakes with my French. I think the French lads appreciated that because I think there are a lot of foreigners who go over and don’t learn the language. But you’ve just got to jump in.”
There are not many players at Borthwick’s disposal who can boast years of Premiership experience as well as spells in France and New Zealand – Marchant spent part of 2020 with the Blues in Auckland and the pair have kept in regular contact since the 2023 World Cup.
“When I came back from New Zealand, the speed of the game was the big takeaway but there was also loads of space on the pitch,” adds Marchant. “You have one-on-ones with people who can go around you, over you, do anything they want. The difference between that and being in the Top 14 for three years is that it is such an intense league, it’s so physical and you get bigger people.”
That variety should stand him in good stead and Marchant makes no secret of the fact that he wants to add to his 28 England caps sooner rather than later. “I want to play for England,” he says. “I’m proud to have played for England and I don’t want it to be my last time at that World Cup, I want to play again. I understand that you need to play against the boys you’re competing with, and I hadn’t done that for three years.”
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Evidently there is a sense of unfinished business. Not least because, in the autumn of 2022, Eddie Jones made it clear to Marchant that he was not in his plans for the World Cup. It was the push he needed to commit to a move from Harlequins to the Top 14 at the end of that season, only for Jones to be sacked and Borthwick – who values Marchant more highly – to be installed.
He went on to be a key member of the side who reached the semi-finals in France but when his teammates headed home from Paris after the third-placed playoff, Marchant stayed put to begin his new chapter with Stade.
“There were conversations just before the autumn internationals that I wasn’t fitting the mould and I wasn’t going to play in the World Cup,” adds Marchant. “[That] was the Eddie chapter. The Stade offer I thought was actually quite good timing then because obviously it was a good offer on the back of the England stuff, it seemed like the right thing to do.
“And then three weeks later, Eddie wasn’t with England any more. I picked up with Steve before the [2023] Six Nations and we had a really honest chat about who I am as a player and my decisions to go abroad and all that, and who I am as a person as well. And that was all really positive. From that, we just got pretty aligned where he felt like he knew what he wanted from me and how to get it. I just felt like it was really good clarity on what I need to do to get into that England shirt.” Three years later, you sense the same clarity has returned.
