Joe Marler defends haka remark after claiming tradition ‘needs binning’ before England v All Blacks

Joe Marler sparked controversy ahead of England vs New Zealand this Saturday after calling for the All Blacks to get rid of the haka.

Marler added that the pre-match tradition is “ridiculous”, with the prop’s comments bound to increase tensions at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in England’s first game of the Autumn Nations Series following a fiercely contested series down under this summer.

“The Haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous,” Marler, who is not in Steve Borthwick’s squad this weekend, said. “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”

Marler deactivated his X account overnight but has since returned to social media in an attempt to calm tensions.

“Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses,” Marler said, before adding a fishing emoji at the end of his post.

Marler broke his foot during the first Test against the All Blacks this summer, but featured off the bench against Saracens earlier this month and was present at the England training camp in Girona earlier this month. He left the setup on Monday for personal reasons.

Ellis Genge will start at loosehead prop with Marler’s Harlequins teammate Fin Baxter on the bench.

Marler has previously pushed back against the haka, notably when he emerged beyond the halfway line ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final.

Referee Nigel Owens ordered Marler to move back with World Rugby later fining England £2,000 over a rule breach “relating to cultural challenges”.

The 34-year-old would later explain that he was confused about how England were supposed to line up in response to the All Blacks and their unconventional ‘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 on the Jonathan Ross show.

“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.”

The Rugby Football Union has declined to comment on Marler’s social media post.