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Joe Marler drops haka bomb days before England vs All Blacks
By Jon Newcombe
England prop Joe Marler has thrown a hand grenade into the build-up to England’s Test with New Zealand with a controversial post on X about the Haka.
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Marler’s team-mates will face down the ceremonial Maori war dance at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, this Saturday but the loose-head prop is seemingly not a fan.
“The Haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous,” he wrote on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, before adding: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”
The Haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous.
— Joe Marler (@JoeMarler) October 29, 2024
Marler was referring to the eyeball-to-eyeball, nose-to-nose incident when the Samoan RL team performed the Siva Tau ahead of their international against England RL in Wigan last weekend.
INJECT IT.
Serious tension between England and Samoa in the League earlier on.
Bring back haka face offs in Union. pic.twitter.com/cSX14kXPLM
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) October 27, 2024
Predictably, some of his 160,000 followers have taken the bait, leading to some forceful replies from those of an All Black persuasion.
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One user wrote: “An Englishman saying this is f****** hilarious; worry about winning some games first, aye?”
What approach England take when confronted by the Haka remains to be seen but Owen Farrell’s cheeky grinned response before the Rugby World Cup 2019 semi-final did his team no harm. England won 19-7.
Another X user, though, questioned the wisdom of his comment so close to the big game. “You just lost the Game for your team! Congratulations!”
Always the prankster, it would have been fascinating to see how Marler would have reacted had he been in England’s 23-man squad.
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It’s just entertainment these days.
The haka is ridiculous - grown men (especially European ABs - like the Barret brothers) dancing and hopping and pulling faces like a bunch of jungle savages. Please don't bin it - it's too funny
I actually think he has a point. Not that the haka needs binning per se.
But that teams should be able to respond to it in a respectful challenging manner that they see fit.
It is after all a war dance/challenge to an opponent.
I loved seeing the various response over the years , the V formation, the face to face challenges the small nuances of a wink or smile, another haka/dance/challenge in return
It adds to the drama and intrigue of all matches.
But it has become santised with the rules about what opponents can do. I think all sides (the All Blacks included) would welcome the choice of a response to it as long as it didn't become a physical altercation before the opening whistle, which is potentially exactly what the current rules were put in place to stop.
By the way I am a New Zealander. Just here to put my perspective forward.
This made me think of an Afrikaans expression about a Lion, a bag of nuts and a sharp stick.
Unfortunately, I can't post it here, but it would be good life advice for Joe Marler.
Do NZers even care anymore? Reply to the haka bare bum cheeks brave heart styles if they want to.
Yes they do, they cried like a bunch of babies who just had their dummy's stolen in Joburg when a plane flew over the stadium while they were doing their little dance. The crying and moaning afterwards was nauseating.
What's the bet that he wouldn't feel comfortable saying the same thing about the Fijian, Tongan or Samoan versions....
Maybe England could do a Monty Python skit. Wound? What wound?
I love it, no need for motivational speeches from Razor. Thank you Mr Marler. I thought Borthwick when they toured NZ had real respect and humility which was great to see, he is a fine coach. However this is good news :-} go crush them black and Beauden to have a blinder as well. (thanks Stu)
Obviously just stirring the pot...only helps add fuel to the fire. Should be a good game
England should insist that the schedule doesn't allow for the haka, and make the ABs do it in their changing room. Wales did that once.
Oh btw, the ABs came out of the sheds with steam coming out of their ears, and they tore Wales apart.
They don't need to insist. They can just decline for Nz to do the haka and that would be that but why would they? The haka will not change the outcome of the match and it special to most rugby fans. Same goes for all the other Pacific island nations.
The ABs should stop doing Haka at Twickenham....the crowd dont repsect it. Can just imagine the uproar from the English if they did stop
Haha a fat little prop who couldnt win anything..... Oh dear!
Joe Marler: big voice for a subpar player (by international standards). Never had the grit to make it.
The Haka is not only a rugby thing, NZ do it in every single sport they play. Do we really want to be like football, ruled by colonisers who prevent the culture of other peoples from being expressed during the game?
To put in another point, nobody is stopping England from doing their own performance. Maybe start learning tap dancing.
The All Blacks have earnt the right to do the Haka, because they are from New Zealand, have connections to Pasifika/Maori traditions, and represent the people of Aotearoa at the highest level.
Every time they perform the Haka, they take responsibility and pride in their jersey, and take on the onus of being role-models and leaders. It is not about frightening the opposition, it is about taking pride in your jersey, who you are, and what you represent. They perform it with such passion for these reasons, not everything is about you Joe.
All Blacks by 17+ now that he's gone and said that. Caleb Clarke hattrick.
It's also a long-standing tradition in rugby. They've been doing it for over 100 years. It was done as pre-match entertainment that crowds literally paid to see, so that the teams could afford to travel to different countries to play. Otherwise they might not have been able to afford to go on tour - therefore no travel = no games. That aspect of its history has been lost recently - now it's all a culture war usually by the English colonisers trying to tell the colonies what to do.
😂 Morris dancing?
Nice baiting right before a test match LOL. The English should wear those tall and fluffy bearskin black hats, do the Morris dance and blow some trumpets as their own pre-match war dance. I'm sure that'd scare the socks off the All Blacks 😁🤣😂
And let's not forget that the English crowds love singing a racist slavery song from America which is the funniest and most absurd, hypocritical and annoying thing in rugby, bar none.