Joe Marler and Danny Care have last tango at Twickenham
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JOE Marler fears that Harlequins stunning victory in the Premiership final will be the last dance he enjoys with Danny Care.
The England duo have been celebrating long and hard after being overcome with the emotion of helping their club end a nine-year wait to be crowned English champions for a second time.
Quins fans will be praying that the incredible, 40-38 victory over Exeter Chiefs many claim was the best Premiership Final ever, will act as the foundation and catalyst for further success.
Loosehead Marler and scrum-half Care were inspirational in a rollercoaster campaign which saw The Stoop side endure low points with the midseason departure of head of rugby Paul Gustard but then revive and soar to miraculous heights under the stewardship of general manager Billy Millard and a coaching staff of Nick Evans, Adam Jones and Jerry Flannery.
Marler said: “I'm still struggling to piece it altogether. What a game it was. Danny couldn't stop crying! He said: ‘Joe, this one feels so different…I don't know why I keep crying, it's amazing!'.
“We are both really old and almost certain we will never get it again. So we are probably pretty upset that this may be the last dance! He kept saying that to me. That this is the last dance old mate but I told him he was a few years older than me and to stop retiring me. Then he replied: ‘Mate, you retire all the time!'.”
Care was referring to Marler's dilemma over time away from his family which led to him announcing his England career was over in 2018 before he returned for the 2019 World Cup.
Marler, 31 this week, is in his prime for a prop foward and, indeed, played the entire 80 minutes of Quins final triumph. It just seems he has been at Quins for ever, having joined in 2008, made his debut in 2009 and captained the side in 2014-15.
Marler, who became a father for the fourth time with wife Daisy just weeks before the game, had his family present at Twickenham.
And he revealed the risky decision the players took in order to spark their campaign into life.
He said: “The game itself just summed up where we had been this season. Ninety per cent of our squad just went: ‘We don't really like defending but we do like attacking. So let's just attack as much as we can and see if we can win games like that!'.
“We were very fortunate that we manage to do that because some of the defence was pretty terrible. It was like ‘don't fancy it today so let's make sure we score two extra tries on top of it!'”
Marler, who electrified the TV audience with his typically rumbustious post match chat, added: “The 10,000 fans were wonderful. Both the Quins and Chiefs supporters made it electric.
“I remember watching Chiefs win it last year and thinking that it was really gutting for them to do it with no one there in the ground, and celebrating in front of empty stand.
“The reason we want to win, put our bodies on the line and do what we do is for moments like that in front of crowds of people.
“To celebrate with fans and your family. Some fans have been there through thick and thin.
“I'm glad my wife convinced me that she should go to the game. She was right. It was such a special day.”
Care may feel he is coming to the end of glorious Quins career, but the future looks bright for the London club with the likes of young guns Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt and Louis Lynagh playing major roles in turning a potentially miserable season into a triumphant one.
