New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson has responded to Joe Marler after the England prop called for the Haka to be scrapped.
Ahead of England and the All Blacks’ autumn opener on Saturday at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, Marler wrote on social media site X on Tuesday that “the haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous.”
The 34-year-old then added: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week”, before deleting his account.
The second comment was made in reference to England’s rugby league side facing Samoa’s Siva Tau war dance and standing defiant on the halfway line, players coming face-to-face once the Samoan team reached them.
The initial message from Marler prompted an inevitable backlash from some.
Hours later, Marler reactivated his X account and posted: “Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses. Big Love x.”
He added: “Also needed to satisfy my narcissism.”
England rugby league came face-to-face with Samoa when they performed the Siva Tau last week
Robertson believes the 34-year-old, who left the England camp on Monday for personal reasons, could have chosen his words more carefully.
“I know Joe. I wonder if he wishes he could have articulated himself better on that,” he said at New Zealand’s team announcement.
“It’s a great tradition of rugby that all Pacific nations do before to honour where they come from. It means a lot to us. The crowd enjoy it.”
In rugby union, World Rugby laws state that teams must stay within their own half while the All Blacks are performing the haka.
England were fined by the governing body back in 2019 after they lined up in a ‘V’ shape during the Rugby World Cup semi-final, with Marler crossing the halfway line.
As a result, the Rugby Football Union were ordered to pay £2,000 for breaching tournament rules “relating to cultural challenges”.
In 2007, New Zealand staged their cherished pre-match haka in the dressing room after a dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) over the timing of the traditional war dance.
Wales refused the All Blacks’ request for the haka to be performed after the anthems just before kick-off.
At that year’s World Cup France got up close and personal in the quarter-final, with the imposing Sebastien Chabal one of those to stare down the New Zealand players.
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (c), 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Harry Randall, 23 George Ford.
All Blacks: 1 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Scott Barrett, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 6 Wallace Sititi, 7 Sam Cane, 8 Ardie Savea, 9 Cortez Ratima, 10 Beauden Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Mark Tele’a, 15 Will Jordan
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi,18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie
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