A former Wales rugby international has accused "mouthy" Joe Marler of "cheap trash talk" after the England and Harlequins prop received a ban over comments made to Bristol flanker Jake Heenan.
Retired lock Andrew Coombs, who played 10 times for Wales while at Dragons, posted a series of tweets on Saturday after Marler was banned for six weeks — four of them suspended — for his behaviour during Quins' 15-12 Premiership defeat to Bristol.
Audio from Tuesday's match appeared to capture Marler, 32, making a crude remark about Heenan's mother, who is reportedly receiving hospital treatment for cancer. Merthyr-born Coombs, 38, shared the recording on Twitter and wrote: "P**s poor from Marler! I experienced this in Connaught when a player said ‘I f****d your mother last night’. Sadly she had passed a few years before that game. I’m all for men trying to intimidate each other through words, but this is cheap trash talk."
