England prop Joe Marler has sparked outrage in New Zealand after suggesting the haka ‘needs binning’ and describing it as ‘ridiculous’. The traditional Maori dance will be performed by the All Blacks before this weekend’s game against England at Twickenham.
Marler, who will not play in the match having left the camp due to personal reasons, sparked a backlash with his recent comments on the haka. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he added: “It’s only good when teams front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”
The 34-year-old was referring to the England rugby league team staring down the Siva Tau, which was performed by Samoa before their friendly match in Wigan last weekend.
Marler deactivated his account shortly afterwards before reactivating it and clarifying his comments on Wednesday. He said: “Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture.”
The damage had already been done, though, with politicians and members of the public in New Zealand left outraged by Marler’s comments.
David Seymour, the country’s minister for regulation, aimed a savage dig at Marler by questioning his intelligence. He said: “In my experience I have met a few props with very high IQ, but very few of them so it could be something in that area.”
Meanwhile, cultural advisor Dr Karaitiana Taiuru told Stuff: “Calling for it to be binned with no reasoning shows a lack of appreciation for traditions, which is a contradiction for any rugby player, cultural appreciation and lack of open-mindedness.”
Calls for the haka to be scrapped before the start of international rugby matches are nothing new. It has been argued that it gives the All Blacks an unfair psychological advantage, but supporters believe it must be protected as a long-standing cultural tradition.
Five years ago, the England team were fined after challenging the haka before facing New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. They lined up in a ‘V’ formation with several players crossing the halfway line, which is banned by World Rugby.
Marler was one of the players to cross the halfway mark and later explained that he was confused about where he was supposed to stand.
During an appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show, he said: “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.
“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’.”
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