Six Nations: England have rallied behind Luke Cowan-Dickie, says Joe Marler

Joe Marler says the England squad have rallied behind Luke Cowan-Dickie after the hooker was sent to the sin-bin and conceded a game-changing penalty try in the Six Nations defeat at Scotland.

England led 17-10 when Cowan-Dickie deliberately knocked the ball into touch, preventing Scotland wing Darcy Graham from scoring a 66th-minute try.

Finn Russell then kicked a late penalty as Scotland won 20-17.

«He was heartbroken,» Marler told BBC Sport.

Cowan-Dickie posted an apology to England fans on Twitterexternal-link following the game at Murrayfield, and Marler responded by poking fun at his team-mate and making reference to his own mistake.

But Harlequins prop Marler, who often speaks about the importance of mental health after his own depression diagnosis, said that would have made the Exeter hooker feel better.

«He is a very emotional guy and he wears his heart on his sleeve,» added Marler.

«Behind the scenes we have got behind him to say it's OK — have your five minutes of downtime.

»But he is buzzing about the place now and he's looking forward to ripping into the next game. It shows the togetherness of the group at the minute.

«The youngsters are all very close with each other and the old boys, that are still mucking about, all get on too.»

With Cowan-Dickie in the sin-bin, and Marler on the field as a second-half replacement for Ellis Genge, line-out duties fell to the Harlequins player.

However, the 31-year-old appeared to delay his throw and was then penalised for not throwing the ball in straight. Scotland were awarded a scrum, from which they won the penalty which Russell converted as the hosts retained the Calcutta Cup.

Following the skewed attempt, Marler says he received a stern stare from his Quins and England