Joe Marler calls for Haka to be banned before Twickenham clash

Publish Date
Wednesday, 30 October 2024, 11:16AM

By Ben Coles of Daily Telegraph UK

Joe Marler has fanned the flames ahead of Englandā€™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 ā€œridiculousā€.

Marler posted on social media: ā€œThe Haka needs binning. Itā€™s ridiculous.ā€

While the England prop is not involved in this weekendā€™s match at Twickenham, his comments are bound to increase tensions between the two sides leading into Englandā€™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, Marlerā€™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 Ā£2,000 ($NZ4357) by World Rugby for breaching tournament rules ā€œrelating to cultural challengesā€.

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 ā€˜Vā€™ formation.

ā€œThe issue was, Ben [Youngs] drew it up the night before ā€¦ he got up and he did it on a flipchart and he marked it all out with Xs and Os,ā€ Marler said at the time. ā€œThe issue I had with it is I look at that board and thought, ā€œItā€™s not to scaleā€... I thought we were meant to be closer than what the picture said.

ā€œ[I went over the line] which I thought we were all going to do but then I looked back and they werenā€™t doing it but I thought, Iā€™ve already committed now.ā€

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

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