Joe Marler says ‘ridiculous’ haka ‘needs binning’ ahead of England v All Blacks

Joe Marler has 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, who has since deactivated his X account, broke his foot during the first Test against the All Blacks this summer and has been sidelined since.

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.

Marler was ordered to move back by referee Nigel Owens and World Rugby later fined England £2,000 over a rule breach “relating to cultural challenges”.

Marler would late explain that he was confused about how England were supposed to line up in response to the All Blacks.

“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.