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Injured England professional Joe Marler has called the All Blacks’ pre-match haka “ridiculous”, adding: “They need a binning.”
Marler, who has been sidelined since suffering a foot injury against the All Blacks mid-year, fanned the flames by posting up at the X ahead of Sunday’s Test at Twickenham. Significant backlash.
On Wednesday, a visitor to @JoeMarler discovered that the page no longer exists.
In his post, Mahler referenced Siva Tau, who played for the Samoa rugby league team against England earlier this week.
The teams were in each other’s faces and a key moment came when Manly hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong took on England’s Mikey Lewis.
Towards the end of the heated conversation, Lewis is seen mouthing the words “let’s go.”
England national team against All Blacks
Former Australian league chief Corey Parker told SEN Radio that he would have struggled to restrain himself if he had faced Chan Kum Tong in a similar way.
“I love the war cry, but what if Gordon Chan Kum Tong does that and you tell him the old-fashioned ‘don’t argue, get out of my space’ kind of thing?” he asked.
“Is that rude? Should I just report it to the police? Do you just wear it no matter what? If you get a bit of a knockback at the start of the game, whose fault is it?
“They’re right in your face, right in your space.
“I was wearing an Australian jumper when Gordon Chan Kum Tong came and pressed his head firmly against mine…” Come on, buddy, come on.
“Should we just call the police because it’s a war cry? I appreciate and respect you, but please don’t come and shove your head in my head. “I don’t know if I can react that kindly.”
Mahler’s comments will increase tensions between the teams ahead of Sunday’s game.
Mahler has a history with the haka. During the 2019 World Cup semi-final, he crossed the halfway line during pre-match ceremonies and was sent off by referee Nigel Owens. England were subsequently fined for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural challenges”.
Meanwhile, Daily Mail rugby writer Chris Hoy called on World Rugby to relax its rules and allow teams to take part in the Haka Challenge, saying the current version was too sanitary.
“Just before kick-off, thousands of camera phones will be set up across the pitch to capture the familiar ritual of the Haka. It’s also a crowd pleaser for those supporting the team taking on the All Blacks. Even when they try to overwhelm it with partisan songs,” Foy wrote.
“The problem is that pre-match challenges are so sanitized that photographers and microphones are bridging the gap between teams. If the authorities relax and respond appropriately, it will be truly worth watching.
“World Rugby rules state that ‘no player from the team being challenged may cross the halfway line.’ How boring. England ignored this in 2019 and won the World Cup semi-final by forming an arrow shape and looking down on New Zealand from outside the clearance zone.
“The regulations state: ‘It is not mandatory for the team being challenged to face it.’ In other words, World Rugby is content to cause cultural offense by allowing rival teams to ignore New Zealand. If all you want to do is make a spectacle, then have England and all its enemies move towards the challengers or surround them as long as there is no contact. Why not?
“If the All Blacks are free to make throat-slitting gestures in other people’s stadiums for cultural reasons, then England can respond with a blinkered eye ready to pick a fight according to their own customs. Before anyone gets upset, it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the point stands. “The haka that gets a reaction is the haka that people remember, not the haka that everyone sanitizes their hands with.”
