Joe Marler apologizes for trying to stir up drama with a hack comment

Joe Marler has apologized to New Zealand supporters for his “cheeky” comments meant to spark drama when he suggested the haka should be thrown out was “ridiculous”.

Marler left the England squad on Monday for personal reasons and it is currently unclear whether he will return during the autumn campaign. After England captain Jamie George and New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson spoke out about Marler’s comments earlier on Thursday, following a backlash in New Zealand, Marler posted a lengthy apology on his social media account on X, which included an image of the letter ” V” of the England team. formation before the haka before the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final.

Hello rugby fans. Just wanted to come on here and apologize to all the New Zealand fans I upset with my poorly worded tweet earlier in the week,” he wrote. “I did not mean any malice when I asked for this to be removed, I just want the restrictions to be lifted so that I can respond without sanctions.

“How good were the rugby league responses from Cockerill/Hewitt, Campese, France 2007, Tokyo 19 or Samoa v England? Create entertaining drama before the match begins. My flippant attempt to spark discussion around this was crap and I should have explained things better.

“I am grateful for the knowledge gained about how important haka is to New Zealand culture and hope that others will understand it better too. There will now be a mega rugby event on Saturday at 3pm. England with a score of 6 (winking face and tongue emoji). Now I’ll go back to my attention box. Much love x”

George had earlier on Thursday defended the haka and distanced himself from Marler’s comments, saying he had “really enjoyed it” and had consulted with forwards Chandler Cunningham-South and Ethan Roots, who grew up in New Zealand, on how to properly respond to it. .