England prop Joe Marler says he was "just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture" when posting on social media that the haka was "ridiculous" and "needs binning".
Following a flood of replies on X to his initial remarks, Marler made his account inactive before returning to the platform today.
"Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses. 🎣 Big Love x"
Marler yesterday posted on X that "the Haka needs binning".
"It's ridiculous."
The 34-year-old did add context to his original post, saying that he didn't mind when teams laid down a challenge to the haka, as seen from the English rugby league team against Samoa in their recent Test.
Before the Test the England team stood face to face with Samoa as the visitors did their traditional siva tau challenge, with Samoa's hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong, who plays for Manly, and England's halfback Mikey Lewis literally butting heads.
In rugby, opposition teams are generally required to stand at least 10m away from a haka, siva tau, Fijian cibi and Tongan sipi tau.
Marler broke a foot when playing for England in the first of the nation's two Test defeats in New Zealand in July, and won't be involved in this weekend's clash at Twickenham.
According to The Guardian, he left team camp for personal reasons at the start of this week before he took to X.
The Guardian said his reasons are not believed to be due to selection issues and coach Steve Borthwick was sympathetic towards the decision.
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