Joe Marler will be available for England’s second autumn international against Australia after the terms of his three-week suspension were successfully challenged. It ruled that, as he was almost certain to be named by Jones, he would have been unavailable for the weekend of 4-5 November with England in camp in Portugal. As a result, Harlequins’ Anglo-Welsh match at Saracens was not taken into consideration by the committee. Harlequins believed they had a case even before Nathan Hughes was handed a two-week ban on the same day, without any reference to his “likely playing commitments”, freeing him for all three of England’s Tests. EPCR has blamed Harlequins for initially providing “no evidence” that Marler should have been deemed available for their Anglo-Welsh match and went on the claim that it was satisfied the ban’s terms should be changed only when England’s autumn squad had been announced.

Source: The Guardian October 27, 2017 10:07 UTC