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Harlequins issue statement on length of Marler 'season-ending' ban
By Online Editors
Harlequins have outlined their disappointment with the ten-week ban that has effectively ended Joe Marler’s domestic season with the club.
The London club’s loosehead was banned by a Six Nations independent disciplinary committee on Thursday until Monday, June 8, two days after Quins play their final match of the regulation Gallagher Premiership season away at Leicester on June 6.
Joe Marler "nothing more than an egotistical narcissist" - ex-Wales skipper blasts England prop
Unless Marler appeals and successfully gets his suspension reduced or seventh-place Quins manage to finish in the top four and qualify for the league semi-finals, he will not appear again this season for Paul Gustard's side.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Premiership club said: “Harlequins notes the disciplinary decision regarding Joe Marler.
"Whilst not in any way condoning Joe's actions last Saturday we are disappointed at the level of sanction applied, particularly when compared to other disciplinary decisions announced this week.
“The club will be making no further comment on the situation and is fully focused on this weekend’s Premiership Rugby Cup final against Sale Sharks.”
Marler was found guilty of foul play under law 9.27 (acts against the spirit of good sportsmanship) when he touched the genitals of Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones in the first half of last Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham.
The England prop was not penalised during the game for the incident and Harlequins’ frustration is that their player’s subsequent ten-week suspension appeared very heavy compared to the four-week ban issued to England’s Manu Tuilagi for his bad tackle red card versus Wales and the three-week ban handed out to red-carded France prop Mohamed Haouas for punching.
Marler had accepted at the hearing that he had committed an act of foul play, albeit that he did not accept that he had grabbed, twisted or squeezed the genitals of the Welsh player and he did not accept that it warranted a red card.
However, the disciplinary committee, which comprised David Hurley (Ireland), Sarah Smith (Scotland) and Stefan Terblanche (South Africa), concluded otherwise.
WATCH: The Rugby Pod reflects on all the week's rugby, including the Joe Marler incident
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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