Marler: Even my wife said I was a moron
England prop ‘so sorry’ over ban for insulting opponent’s mother
JOE MARLER admitted that even his wife had labelled him a moron after the England prop’s latest brush with controversy. Marler sparked a brawl in action for Harlequins on December 27 when he insulted Bristol forward Jake Heenan’s mother, who is in hospital, by calling her a ‘f***ing whore’.
Marler, who has a long history of disciplinary issues, was banned for two weeks with another four suspended by an RFU disciplinary panel.
Speaking on his podcast The Joe Marler Show, the 32-year- old forward admitted that insulting opposition players as he did is commonplace in rugby but that he had no idea Heenan’s mother was in hospital.
Marler said: ‘I’m really sorry to Jake and his family and also to my team-mates and the club because they must really now be at a point where they’re thinking, “Here we go again”.
‘At what point do you go, “Yeah, you can say sorry, mate, but just stop doing it?” I guess this is the point. I’m usually better than just calling someone’s mum a whore.
‘Stuff like this is said. This is the norm. That may not be an excuse, but it is kind of a reason that you think, “Well, it’s normalised”.’
Marler has previously received bans for calling Wales prop Samson Lee a ‘gypsy’ and also for grabbing the testicles of another Wales player, Alun Wyn Jones, while on Six Nations duty with England.
Now even Marler’s wife Daisy has refused to defend him. Marler said: ‘She turned round to me and she said, “You’re an idiot, aren’t you? You’re just a moron”. I said, “What do you mean? I thought you were meant to defend me”.
‘And she said, “Why am I defending you? That’s not even a funny attempt. Why don’t you just stop doing it? Or, if you feel the need to do it, just don’t bring family members into it. You never know what’s going on in people’s lives and it doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect other people”. I said, “You’re absolutely spot on”.’
Marler was fortunate to escape with just a fortnight’s suspension for the Heenan incident. It meant he missed Harlequins’ hammering by Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens and won’t be able to face Sale on Sunday. But he will still be available for England’s Six Nations campaign, if selected by the new head coach Steve Borthwick.
‘We always have a choice,’ reflected Marler. The prop then described his wind-up antics as ‘fake tough-guy’ stuff and added: ‘It’s about what I can do to make this good for me moving forward.
‘I have not got long left being able to play the game. I want to use whatever time I have left to actually embrace it.’