The Harlequins prop stirred the pot with his comments just days before New Zealand come to Twickenham.
England prop Joe Marler has been criticised after posting that New Zealand’s haka “needs binning” and labelling it “ridiculous” ahead of Saturday’s match against the All Blacks.
The injured loosehead prop claimed in a post on X that the pre-match ritual should be scrapped.
In a since-deleted post, he wrote: “The haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous.”
He added: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”
Shortly after, Marler deactivated his X account, but has since rejoined the social media platform.
In a follow-up post, the Harlequins player said: “Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses [finishing emoji]. Big Love x.”
He added: “Also needed to satisfy my narcissism.”
The comments led to immediate backlash on social media, with one person replying: “Who are you to speak on someone else’s culture?”
Another wrote: “As a professional rugby player, it must be a momentous occasion to be able to stand in front of one of the greatest rugby playing nations in the world, and witness this tradition first hand.”
His comments come five years after England were fined £2,000 for crossing the halfway line as they lined up in a V formation to face the haka before their Rugby World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand.
While many were critical of the insensitive nature of Marler’s post, others believed he made a good point.
One X user wrote: “Don’t agree with Joe Marler that the Haka should be binned. But let’s bin the 20-metre rule.”
Another added: “Good logic here from Joe Marler. The haka is bad but it’s bad because opposition players (him) don’t respond to it properly.”
Marler’s comments provoked a backlash in New Zealand, including from David Seymour, leader of the political party ACT which is part of the coalition government.
“I love the haka. It wouldn’t be the All Blacks if they didn’t do the haka,” Seymour told reporters outside Parliament.
“Who is this Joe Marler guy? I’ve never heard of him. An English prop? Well in my experience there are very few props with high IQ. It could be something in that area.”
Marler won’t feature in Saturday’s game, having left the England camp at the start of the week for personal reasons.
