In a sporting world of such intense scrutiny where athletes are media trained to within an inch of their lives lest they say anything remotely interesting, the same old dull, platitudinous interviews are par for the course. Rarely is a pre-match interview worth the effort of listening.

European Champions Cup roundup: Quins crushed by rampant Clermont Read more

But try telling that to England’s Rugby World Cup star, Joe Marler. The popular bearded and mohicanned prop bucked the trend in spectacular fashion by previewing Harlequins’ next Champions Cup outing through the lens of a drawn-out horse metaphor that delighted the internet, where it was lauded as the best sporting interview of all time.

“I wasn’t hurting as much as the lads who were out there but I definitely felt it and I know how hard the boys have taken that,” he began. “They will be disappointed with the account that we put out but we have got another week to get back on the horse.”

So far, so sporting cliche. But then things took a turn for the bizarre.

Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) 🐴 Our @bathrugby preview with @JoeMarler took an unexpected turn...



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“And take that horse to the water, and you can ask that horse, you can say, ‘Hey, horsey, do you want to have a drink or do you want to swim’,” he said. “It’s up to that horse to then realise what he wants to do in his life. That horse, at the moment, wants to go out on Saturday, he wants to clippity-clop all the way to The Stoop and he wants to say hello to those fans.”

Marler then really got into character, imitating what the horse would sound like, were it able to talk – apparently with an Irish accent. “And he goes, ‘I’m sorry about the result last week, but I’m going to give a better performance here at home against Bath’. He’s a slightly Irish horse. So we are looking forward, like I say, to getting back on that horse.”

Harlequins play Bath at the weekend, when they hope to bounce back from last weekend’s heavy defeat to Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup group stage. Asked if he was personally looking forward to getting back on said horse, Marler said: “I don’t like horses. I can’t ride.”