I found myself looking for outs before England duty - Marler

Joe Marler has revealed that the anxiety caused by departing for England duty would drive him to get himself deliberately sin-binned or sent off.

Marler announced his international retirement last week in order to spend more time with his family but he will continue playing for his club Harlequins.

It was during a defeat at Bristol on September 22 that the combustible loosehead prop decided his 59-cap Test career was over.

The day after the 20-13 loss at Ashton Gate, Marler phoned coach Eddie Jones to inform him of the news as England were gathering for a three-day camp ahead of the autumn series.

"First of all, the Bristol game, I played like an absolute helmet, which often happened around England time," Marler told The Rugby Pod.

"That sort of mindset manifested... the anxiety I'd get about having to leave and go away again would start to manifest in giving away even more dull penalties and looking for outs.

"(I was) looking for a yellow card and looking for a red card because if could pick up a ban then that was an easy way out without actually pulling the trigger.

"After that game, I said I can't keep doing this... I can't keep doing this roller coaster. It's not fair on my family and it's not fair on my club.

"I rang Eddie up on the Sunday and was pretty honest with him. He said, 'I appreciate your honesty, good on ya, all the best'. It was short.

"The relationship I had with Eddie - based on what I did in 2016 for the Australia tour (Marler withdrew) - he knew that if I decided on something there wasn't a lot of chat he could give to change my mind."