The former England prop has spoken out on one of the sport’s biggest issuesMarler is a welfare officer for Team England Rugby(Image: BBC)

Former England international Joe Marler has warned that rugby’s current season structure needs to be reviewed to prevent the sport’s top stars from being forced into early retirement.

The ex-Harlequins prop, who retired from playing at the age of 34 in November last year, is now a performance director and welfare officer for Team England Rugby (TER), an organisation set up by England players to negotiate with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) after breaking away from the Rugby Players’ Association.

In the role, Marler leads discussions with the RFU and Gallagher PREM clubs over the welfare of England players, managing their provisions, match and game time limits and overall health.

When the appointment was made at the start of this year, the 95-cap international claimed that Test stars were “not looked after” previously, with some players “too scared to speak to the directors of rugby” about their welfare.

Nearly a year into the role, Marler is making sure he checks in with the England squad, but believes that players still need more rest than they are currently getting.

However, he accepts it is a balancing act between protecting player welfare and ensuring rugby’s top talents are available to play, to encourage ticket sales and make the sport as marketable as possible.

“I keep my ear to the ground and check in with the England team,” he told MailOnline. “I was in camp during the autumn, making sure they’re getting their appropriate rest, especially the Lions boys.

“They’re getting the rest that is available to them in the current agreement. I would argue they need more and that is a constant battle, because I also understand it from Premiership Rugby’s point of view.

“The game is dying on its a*** financially. We’re trying everything we can to push it to the masses and to do that you need your stars available as much as possible. It’s tough enough selling tickets with all the big names. I understand it.”

Warburton retired in 2018 at the age of 29(Image: Getty Images Europe)

On what must happen next, Marler believes the current season structure must be reviewed to prevent the game from “tear[ing] the a***” out of players.

The former England star has pointed to Sam Warburton as a cautionary tale, with the ex-Wales captain retiring at the age of 29 after suffering persistent knee and back injuries that his body couldn’t recover from.

“Everyone needs to sit in a room together and look at the season structure moving forwards,” said Marler. “Do you want these big-name players to have long careers? Or do you want to overplay them, tear the a*** out of them and then they’re injured. They’re gone. Like a Sam Warburton who has retired too early.”

Earlier this year, World Rugby introduced new welfare guidelines limiting professional players to a maximum of 30 full games per season and no more than six in a row. Reflecting on what led to his retirement, Warburton previously said that players should ideally not play more than 25 games in a season, with the game getting faster and more physical.

“Players in an ideal world shouldn’t play more than 25 games a season,” he told The Times in 2018. “I know it is a vicious circle with the need for enough games to pay wages and the like, but that is my view.”

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