Joe Marler’s call for the haka to be “binned” has sparked a fierce backlash in New Zealand, with the country’s government questioning his intelligence and Maori groups accusing him of a lack of respect.
Marler, who has left the England camp ahead of Saturday’s showdown against the All Blacks over personal reasons, posted on X and said the haka was ‘ridiculous’, advocating for it to be scrapped. He added: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the [rugby] league boys did last week.”
By Wednesday morning, he had deactivated his account. Telegraph Sport understands that Marler left Pennyhill Park on Monday and before head coach Steve Borthwick had confirmed his team to face New Zealand. England will not call up a replacement this week with Ellis Genge starting at loosehead and Fin Baxter, Marler’s Harlequins teammate, on the bench.
There is no time frame for Marler to return with England also facing Australia, South Africa and Japan. The 34-year-old has a long documented history of mental health issues and previously released a documentary called Big Boys Don’t Cry.
While some backed Marler’s comments, the reaction in New Zealand was strong, with ACT leader David Seymour leading the charge.
“I love the haka. It wouldn’t be the All Blacks if they didn’t do the haka,” Seymour told reporters. “Who is this Joe Marler guy, I’ve never heard of him? Well, in my experience I have met a few props with very high IQ, but very few of them. So it could be something in that area.”
Mana Epiha, a cultural advisor, added that Marler was not supposed to like the haka.
“If he doesn’t like it, that is probably a good thing. That is not for people to like, it’s for people to tremble in their boots,” Epiha told media in New Zealand. “It’s definitely something that brings about beautiful feelings of our ancestor’s warrior spirits.”
Another Māori cultural advisor, Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, said Marler’s comments showed a lack of “cultural appreciation” and added: “Calling for it to be binned with no reasoning shows a lack of appreciation for traditions which is a contradiction for any rugby player, cultural appreciation and lack of open mindedness.”
Taiuru said that all teams should be able to perform “a cultural ceremony before kickoff”.
Marler has history when it comes to the haka, notably crossing the halfway line during the build-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final. He was told to move back by referee Nigel Owens, and England went on to be fined £2,000 by World Rugby for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural challenges”.
The prop later explained on The Jonathan Ross Show that England had confused how they were supposed to line up in response to the Haka, ending up in a ‘V’ formation.
“The issue was, Ben [Youngs] drew it up the night before… he got up and he did it on a flip chart and he marked it all out with Xs and Os,” Marler said at the time.
“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.”
Marler broke his foot on tour on New Zealand in the summer. Ellis Genge will start at loosehead prop for England this weekend, while Fin Baxter, Marler’s Harlequins team-mate, has been named on the bench.
