Joe Marler has been ruled out of England’s first two Six Nations matches against Italy and Wales after receiving a six-week suspension, handing Eddie Jones a considerable selection headache for the start of the championship.
The Harlequins prop’s second suspension of the season comes after he was shown a red card for striking the head of Sale’s TJ Ioane with his shoulder last Saturday and he will be unavailable for England’s opener in Rome on 4 February as well as the visit of Wales six days later. With Ellis Genge (shoulder) and Matt Mullan (ribs) sidelined, Mako Vunipola is the only fit loosehead prop at Jones’s disposal with Test experience. Beno Obano is seemingly in line for his England debut off the bench.
Marler is free to play again on 20 February, meaning he would be available to face Scotland at Murrayfield four days later but it remains to be seen if Jones will select him considering the length of time the 27-year-old will spend on the sidelines. He also misses the last two pool matches of Quins’ miserable Champions Cup campaign, starting at home to Wasps on Saturday.
Marler pleaded guilty at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday night but after the independent panel ruled he had made contact with Ioane’s head, the minimum sanction was a six-week ban. An additional week was initially added owing to Marler’s record – he was also given a three-week ban in October – but due to mitigating factors, including his plea and his conduct since Saturday, the ban was reduced by a week.
The absence of Marler is likely to count in the favour of Obano, the Bath prop, who was called up by England for the first time last week after impressing with a series of eye-catching performances, including the European double header against Toulon – the second of which was attended by Jones. The 23-year-old made his first league start for Bath only this season and when asked about Obano last week, Jones said: “Potentially he’s going to be a good player but he’s got a hell of a lot of physical work to do.”
