Injured England prop Joe Marler has taken a shot at the All Blacks pre-match haka calling it “ridiculous” and adding that it “needs binning”.
Marler, who played against the All Blacks mid year before suffering a broken foot that continues to sideline him, fanned the flames ahead of Sunday’s Test at Twickenham with a post on X – and then sensationally appeared to have shut down his social media account after a considerable backlash.
Visitors to @JoeMarler on Wednesday discovered the page no longer exists.
In his post, Marler referenced the Siva Tau performed by the Samoan rugby league team against England earlier this week.
The teams were right in each other’s faces and the key moment came when Manly hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong got right in the face of England’s Mikey Lewis.
Towards the end of the intense exchange, Lewis can be seen mouthing “let’s go”.
ENGLAND NAME TEAM TO FACE ALL BLACKS
Former Australian league rep Corey Parker told SEN Radio he would have struggled to restrain himself if he was confronted in similar fashion by Chan Kum Tong.
“I’m all for the war cries but what happens, hypothetically, if Gordon Chan Kum Tong does that and you give him a good, old-fashioned ‘don’t argue, get out of my space’ type thing?” he asked.
“Is that disrespectful? Are you supposed to just cop it? Do you just wear whatever’s going on? If there’s a little shove at the start of the game, who’s at fault?
“They are right in your face, right in your space.
“If Gordon Chan Kum Tong came and pressed his head firmly into mine and I was in an Australian jumper … come on, mate, come on.
“Are we supposed to just cop it because it’s a war cry? I appreciate it, I respect it but don’t come and push your head into mine. I don’t know if I would react that kindly.”
Marler’s comments will increase tensions between the teams ahead of Sunday’s match.
Marler has a history with the haka. In the 2019 World Cup semifinal he advanced over the halfway line during the pre-game ritual and was ordered back by referee Nigel Owens. England were subsequently fined for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural challenges”.
Meanwhile, Daily Mail rugby writer Chris Hoy has called for World Rugby to relax their rules and allow teams to step up to the haka challenge, opining that it is currently too sanitised.
“Shortly before kick-off, thousands of camera phones will be held up towards the pitch, to capture the familiar ritual of the Haka. It’s a crowd-pleaser, even for those backing the team who are taking on the All Blacks – and even if they try to drown it out with partisan singing,” wrote Foy
“The trouble is that the pre-match challenge has become too sanitised, with photographers and microphones filling the yawning gap between the teams. If only the authorities would lighten up and allow a proper response, it really would be worth watching.
“World Rugby regulations state that ‘no player from the team receiving the challenge may cross the halfway line’. How dull. England ignored that in 2019, formed an arrow shape, advanced out of their permitted zone, stared down the Kiwis – and went on to win the World Cup semi-final.
“The regulations go on to state: ‘It is not mandatory for the team receiving the challenge to face it.’ In other words, World Rugby are content to allow rival teams to ignore New Zealand, thus causing cultural offence. If it’s all about creating a spectacle then let England and all opponents move towards the challengers, or even surround them, as long as there’s no contact. Why not?
“If the All Blacks are free to perform throat-slitting gestures in other people’s stadiums on cultural grounds, England could respond by eye-balling them in readiness to pick a fight, in keeping with their own native custom. That is slightly tongue in cheek, before anyone takes offence, but the point stands. Hakas which spark a response are the ones people remember, not all the at-arm’s-length, sanitised ones.”
