SPOTLIGHT: Joe Marler has stoked the fire ahead of Saturday’s Test between England and New Zealand with his comments on the haka.
The England prop took to social media to express his opinion on the Maori ceremonial war dance and it has caused a stir.
“The haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous,” he wrote on X.
He added: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”
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Marler was referring to the eyeball-to-eyeball, nose-to-nose incident when the Samoan Rugby League team performed the Siva Tau ahead of their international against England in Wigan last weekend.
The 34-year-old prop will not be involved in Saturday’s match as he has been out of action since suffering a broken foot during England’s series against the All Blacks in July.
There has been some controversy involving England and the All Blacks in the past when it came to the haka.
In 2019, England was fined for crossing the halfway line during New Zealand’s haka after they formed a provocative V-shaped formation ahead of kick-off in the World Cup semifinal in Yokohama.
At the tips of the formation, six players – Marler, Billy Vunipola, Mark Wilson, Elliot Daly, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ben Youngs – appeared to be in New Zealand’s half as referee Nigel Owens tried in vain to order them back.
