Joe Marler has issued an apology for his “shithouse” criticism of the haka that has whipped up a storm before England face New Zealand on Saturday. After the England captain, Jamie George, admitted that Marler had poked the bear with his criticism of the All Blacks’ traditional war dance, the loosehead prop took to social media again to row back on his earlier comments.
In the latest instalment of a saga that has dominated the buildup to the first autumn international, Marler’s apology comes after George had said that he disagreed with his teammate that the haka should be scrapped. George did, however, say that England were considering a response to the haka at Twickenham while the All Blacks head coach, Scott Robertson, said that Marler “could have articulated himself a little bit better”.
