Joe Marler insists England will tackle the final assignment of their Grand Slam defence with the swagger that accompanies their status as champions.
Eddie Jones’ men head to Dublin for the climactic clash of the RBS 6 Nations with the title already secure, replaying the same scenario as last year when they faced France in Paris to complete the clean sweep.
England have now amassed 18 successive Test victories – one short of eclipsing New Zealand’s record – and Marler detects a change in mindset induced by their success under Jones.
“We’ve moved it on again. We’ve stepped it up again in terms of the attitude, the way we approach the match,” Marler said.
“Last year it took us by surprise. We were playing well and winning games, but we weren’t as confident.
“We didn’t really know ourselves as well as we know ourselves now. We’re looking forward to giving it another crack at the weekend against Ireland.
“There’s definitely less stress this week than at the same time last year. We can take that confidence that we’ve done it before, but the challenge ahead of us is as big, if not bigger.”
England retained their title with a 61-21 over Scotland last Saturday, giving Marler the perfect occasion to celebrate his 50th cap.
Observing a squad tradition, Marler sang ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele on the team bus after the match but he almost did not go through with another protocol performed by players reaching the milestone.
“The boys turned up and made it a good day for me. I’m very grateful. I don’t think I can repay that. It was a great day and a great win that sets us up nicely for this week,” Marler said.
“Running out on to the pitch by myself was awkward. Very awkward. I didn’t want to do it and I said ‘I’m not doing it’ to Dan Cole and Dylan Hartley.
“They said ‘you are doing it’ and I said ‘no, I’m not’. They said ‘you have to’ and I said ‘really?’
“And they said ‘you have to do it, we all have to do it, you’ll regret it if you don’t do it.’ So I went ‘all right, I’ll do it then but don’t leave me out too long’. Because I know what they’re like.
“They’d be like ‘leave him like that and make it even more awkward’. When I actually did it I was glad I did do it but it was still marginally awkward.
“If you get out there and they’re clapping. What do you do?’ Clap back?”
