LOOK GOOD, PLAY BETTER

STYLE. IT means different things to different people. Or nothing at all to some – an irrelevance. It matters to Kyle Sinckler, who got a hairdresser to fly from Tokyo to Beppu at RWC 2019 to do his ‘skin fade’ haircut. And it matters to Joe Marler (left). “A player’s hair is very, very important to him,” says the Quins and England prop.

Marler’s wonderful book Loose Head, published in 2020, provided the impetus for the feature you’re now reading. Does a player’s physical appearance, and how they feel about it, affect their athletic performance? Marler sported a red mohican when he was first called up by England and Martin Johnson told him to get rid of it. Marler objected, arguing that it made no difference to his ability on the pitch. Fair enough, you’d probably say.

But then he was sent off playing for Quins and Conor O’Shea suggested he shave his head and wear a suit and tie to “show respect to the disciplinary panel”. Marler ignored the advice and copped an unfavourable outcome. Now his