Joe Marler calls for Haka to be banned before Twickenham clash

By Ben Coles of Daily Telegraph UK

Joe Marler has fanned the flames ahead of England’s game against New Zealand on Saturday by calling for the All Blacks to get rid of the haka, claiming the pre-match tradition is “ridiculous”.

Marler posted on social media: “The Haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous.”

While the England prop is not involved in this weekend’s match at Twickenham, his comments are bound to increase tensions between the two sides leading into England’s first game of the autumn.

Marler, 34, broke his foot during the first test between England and New Zealand earlier this year and has not played since then for club or country. Ellis Genge will start at loosehead prop for England this weekend, while Fin Baxter, Marler’s Harlequins team-mate, has been named on the bench.

Marler has history when it comes to the haka, notably crossing the halfway line during the build-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final. Marler was told to move back by referee Nigel Owens, and England went on to be fined £2,000 ($NZ4357) by World Rugby for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural challenges”.

Marler later explained on The Jonathan Ross Show that England had confused how they were supposed to line up in response to the haka, ending up in a ‘V’ formation.

“The issue was, Ben [Youngs] drew it up the night before … he got up and he did it on a flipchart and he marked it all out with Xs and Os,” Marler said at the time. “The issue I had with it is I look at that board and thought, “It’s not to scale”... I thought we were meant to be closer than what the picture said.

“[I went over the line] which I thought we were all going to do but then I looked back and they weren’t doing it but I thought, I’ve already committed now.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission