The Profile
The rugby career behind the headlines.
Joe Marler's playing career alone would make him a notable rugby figure. Harlequins first team since 2009, seventy nine caps for England, two Six Nations titles, and a front row reputation that made him one of the most competitive scrummagers in world rugby throughout the 2010s. But it is the second career, the one that has grown alongside the rugby, that has made him a household name beyond the sport.
The podcast, the social media, the Welsh national anthem incident, the mohawk, the willingness to say whatever occurred to him on a given day: Marler has built a public persona that is entirely his own and entirely genuine. He has talked openly about mental health, about the reality of international rugby tours, about the pressures on modern players, and about his own ADHD diagnosis. Every interview is surprising in a way that very few modern athletes manage.
Since retiring from international rugby, he has moved further into media work and continues to play club rugby for Harlequins. The speaker events are some of the most entertaining on the circuit because he refuses to stay on script for more than a sentence at a time, and the stories are a mix of rugby inside jokes and observations about absolutely everything else.
“Front row is where all the interesting things happen. You just can't see them because your head is in someone else's shirt.”
Career highlights
- 79 England caps
- Two Six Nations Championships with England
- Harlequins first team since 2009, Premiership winner 2012
- Podcast host, The Joe Marler Show
- Author of Loose Head
- One of the most followed rugby players on British social media
First hand
Joe Marler at Steam
Joe spoke at Steam twice in February 2025, back to back, because the first event was so heavily oversubscribed we opened a second. He was as funny and unpredictable on the second night as the first.