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Harlequins issue statement on length of Marler 'season-ending' ban

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Harlequins have outlined their disappointment with the ten-week ban that has effectively ended Joe Marler’s domestic season with the club. 

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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

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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.”

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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. 

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WATCH: The Rugby Pod reflects on all the week’s rugby, including the Joe Marler incident

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Soliloquin 1 hour ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

I don’t know the financial story behind the changes that were implemented, but I guess clubs started to lose money, Mourad Boudjellal won it all with Toulon, got tired and wanted to invest in football , the French national team was at its lowest with the QF humiliation in 2015 and the FFR needed to transform the model where no French talent could thrive. Interestingly enough, the JIFF rule came in during the 2009/2010 season, so before the Toulon dynasty, but it was only 40% of the players that to be from trained in French academies. But the crops came a few years later, when they passed it at the current level of 70%.

Again, I’m not a huge fan of under 18 players being scouted and signed. I’d rather have French clubs create sub-academies in French territories like Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia and other places that are culturally closer to RU and geographically closer to rugby lands. Mauvaka, Moefana, Taofifenua bros, Tolofua bros, Falatea - they all came to mainland after starting their rugby adventure back home.

They’re French, they come from economically struggling areas, and rugby can help locally, instead of lumping foreign talents.

And even though many national teams benefit from their players training and playing in France, there are cases where they could avoid trying to get them in the French national team (Tatafu).

In other cases, I feel less shame when the country doesn’t believe in the player like in Meafou’s case.

And there are players that never consider switching to the French national team like Niniashvili, Merckler or even Capuozzo, who is French and doesn’t really speak Italian.

We’ll see with Jacques Willis 🥲


But hey, it’s nothing new to Australia and NZ with PI!

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