Category: Rugby

• Prop says ‘sorry to any New Zealand fans I upset’
• Marler says he wants England to respond on pitch

Joe Marler has issued an apology for his “shithouse” criticism of the haka that has whipped up a storm before England face New Zealand on Saturday. After the England captain, Jamie George, admitted that Marler had poked the bear with his criticism of the All Blacks’ traditional war dance, the loosehead prop took to social media again to row back on his earlier comments.

In the latest instalment of a saga that has dominated the buildup to the first autumn international, Marler’s apology comes after George had said that he disagreed with his teammate that the haka should be scrapped. George did, however, say that England were considering a response to the haka at Twickenham while the All Blacks head coach, Scott Robertson, said that Marler “could have articulated himself a little bit better”.

New Zealand will not be lacking motivation with squad feeling disrespected and England can expect a backlash

There are all sorts of ways a team might get ready for a big match against the All Blacks. Fair to say that the tactic of actively going out of your way to pissing them off, which is the one England seem to have gone for this week, comes in a way down the list. Joe Marler’s tweet that the haka is “ridiculous” and “needs binning” has gone down like cold sick with New Zealanders. “I’m wondering if he wishes he could have articulated himself a little bit better,” said their head coach, Scott Robertson, on Thursday. “The haka is not just about the All Blacks, it is about New Zealand as a country, it means a lot to us.”

Robertson said he didn’t have to pin Marler’s clippings on to the dressing room wall, social media meant his players already knew all about it. “The boys are aware of it,” Robertson said, and while he didn’t want to go so far as saying they would be using it as motivation, he did say “we’ll discuss, and decide how we’ll deal with it. Respectfully.” It was a bit like listening to the white tigers’ team talk about how they were going to deal with Siegfried & Roy.