Joe Marler calls for ‘ridiculous’ hack to be ‘trashed’, then deletes social media account

Joe Marler is training with England — Joe Marler (left) said the haka needs ‘tidying up’ – Getty Images/David Rogers

Joe Marler fanned the fire ahead Englandgame against New Zealand on Saturday, calling on the All Blacks to ditch the hack, claiming the pre-match tradition was “ridiculous”.

Marler posted on social media: “Haka needs disposal. It’s funny.” While the mainstay of England is not involved in this weekend’s match at Twickenhamhis comments are bound to increase tensions between the two sides leading to England’s first game this autumn.

Marler later commented in a second post, “It’s only good when teams actually have some sort of response to it. Like the rugby league boys last week.’ The prop has since deactivated his X account.

Marler, 34, broke his leg during the first Test match between England and New Zealand earlier this summer and is still out. Ellis Gange will start for England this weekend, while Finn Baxter, Marler’s Harlequins team-mate, has been named on the bench.

Marler has a history when it comes to the haka, most notably crossing the halfway line in the build-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-finals. Referee Nigel Owens told Marler to return and England were fined £2,000 by World Rugby for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural issues”.

Marler later explained The Jonathan Ross Show that England mixed up how they should have lined up in response to the hack, ending up in a ‘V’ formation.

In 2019, Joe Marler crosses the halfway line as he faces the hack — Marler (far left) crosses the halfway line when faced with a haka in 2019 – AFP/Behrouz Mehri

“The problem was, Ben (Youngs) drew it the night before … he got up and did it on a flip chart and he marked it all with Xs and Os,” Marler said at the time. “The problem I had with it is that I looked at that board and thought, ‘It’s not to scale’… I thought we should 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 saw that they didn’t, but I thought I had already made the commitment.”

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