‘I called Eddie Jones brutal nickname after he became my England boss – and regret it’

Former prop Joe Marler was renowned for shooting his mouth off during his colourful international career, but it seemed even he was only prepared to cross once. The Australian will return to Twickenham tomorrow with Japan, nearly three years after he was sacked as England coach and replaced by .

That followed a seven-year stint where he led the Red Roses to a Grand Slam, three titles, and the 2019 final.

And Marler, who , was a mainstay of the team that Jones nearly elevated to a second William Webb Ellis trophy.

But only after he learned his limits in the aftermath of England’s 2016 Slam success, which came after a win over France in Paris. Marler and co had opened that campaign with a 15-9 win in Scotland, where the Harlequins man bumped into Scott Johnson, then serving on the home side’s coaching staff.

“He came up to me and Dan Cole and nodded at us. ‘Alright boys. How’s the Beaver?’” Marler told the . “We looked back at him. ‘Who’s The Beaver?’ ‘Eddie! You blokes not call him the Beaver? Everyone calls him the Beaver.”

Marler then claimed Johnson explained that in the Southern Hemisphere, there was a perception that Jones looked like the animal, and was always ‘gnawing away at people’ with his jibes. The 34-year-old admitted that initially, he was not brave enough to use the term to his new coach’s face, waiting instead until the trophy had been sealed in Paris.

“We hadn’t gone to bed after beating France. At least I hadn’t. You can’t rush a good celebration,” he added. “I walked into breakfast, starving hungry and a magnificent night behind us. Eddie was at the buffet. I went over and slapped him on the back.

“I was riding a Grand Slam wave. I was riding quite a few bottles of red. ‘Alright, Beaver?’ He turned from the tureen of scrambled eggs. The look on his face was enough to scramble every egg in the arrondissement.”

Marler explained he was simply told “boss will dand then never dared use the term again, not publicly anyway. “Ever since that day his number in my mobile has been Beaver Jones, so there you go,” he added.

The return of Jones on Sunday has taken on extra scrutiny following the revelations of ex-England scrum half Danny Care. In his new book, Care accused the 64-year-old of creating a “toxic environment” within the squad, alleging that he regularly berated players.

Marler however, did praise the impact that Jones had on both him and English rugby. He said his aggressive coaching style “was exactly what we needefollowing a dismal 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign that led to the departure of Stuart Lancaster.