England prop Joe Marler says he has been working on his lineout throwing in case he is needed to do so again after his timing let him down against Scotland in the opening round of the Six Nations.

Marler had to throw in at the lineout during the second half of the first round Six Nations match against Scotland in Edinburgh, after hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.

It was just the second lineout throw of his career and, somewhat unsurprisingly, it did not travel the required five metres.

Speaking to English media this week, Marler compared himself to rapper Eminem for choking at the crucial moment.

“I just didn’t throw it at the right time. I just didn’t throw it at the right time, I should have thrown it earlier at Dombrandt,” Marler was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

“Unfortunately, I threw it later and he kept running past the five metres with the eyes of ‘Mate, why are you not throwing the ball at me?’. And I went: ‘I don’t know, I feel like Eminem in 8 Mile when he chokes on stage with his rap’. That’s how I’ve felt.”

Marler says he has been putting in extra work on his throwing under the watch of forwards coach Richard Cockerill, in case it happens that he needs to throw in against Italy this weekend.

“I’ve been practising every day,” Marler said. “Cockers has been giving me the eyes – ‘Right, any danger this week, mate?’ I was like, ‘Yes OK, fine’.

“Unfortunately my international record is now down to 50% because it was at 100%. In my third-ever Test, against South Africa, away in 2012, Dylan Hartley got sin-binned, I threw it to Geoff Parling in the pod, he won the ball and I had a 100% throw-in record. Unfortunately, it’s now down to 50% and I can’t be really smug with Joe Gray at Harlequins that I have a better throwing in record than him. That’s the last time.”

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