at the center of very strong criticism, Joe Marler apologizes after his controversial messages

Joe Marler has again found a way to get people talking about him, but not in the right way. The English pillar, who also left the XV de la Rose group for personal reasons, published a post on X where he said that the haka should be banned, because he found it ridiculous. This post will obviously not have gone unanswered by the New Zealanders.

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson responded to Marler at a press conference, asking for respect for this traditional warrior song, which is an integral part of New Zealand rugby culture. New Zealand is not the only nation in the southern hemisphere to have a war chant before each match.

The haka for us is a custom. It’s part of who we are, part of our DNA. You can welcome someone with it, it's for celebration, joy, but also use it as challenge. And we use it that way. It is a great rugby tradition, as is the case for all Pacific nations. The haka honors. This means a lot to us as a country (…) There is a lot of meaning behind this and it must be meaningful and respectful.

Brad Weber, New Zealand player from Stade Français, for his part, delivered a much more spicy response using the social network X. He in fact reposted Joe Marler's post with the following caption:“Captain Cook after he began the colonisation of NZ” (“Captain Cook after beginning to colonize New Zealand”). Captain James Cook was a British navigator who took possession of New Zealand on behalf of the King of England during an expedition in 1770.

Joe Marler apologizes, and explains himself

These criticisms were certainly not the only ones against Joe Marler. And the latter decided this Friday to apologize. An apology which once again came through his X account. This is what we can read in his first message: “I just wanted to come here and apologize to the New Zealand fans who I upset with my poorly thought out tweet earlier in the week. I had no malicious intent in asking for it (the haka) to be removed , I just want to see the restrictions lifted to allow a response without sanction (the All Blacks' opponents, for example, are not allowed to cross the halfway line during the hakka, editor's note).”

Joe Marler then refers, to support his remarks, to several matches where there were great responses to the haka, such as the 2007 match between the Blacks and France. “It creates a bit of drama before kick-off. My casual attempt to spark a debate around this topic was rubbish and I should have explained things better.”continues the pillar.