Joe Marler apologises over 77th minute moment of madness in Toulouse

England prop Joe Marler delivered a straightforward apology after conceding a penalty that hurt Harlequins' chances in the Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse.

The colourful 33-year-old is no stranger to such incidents but on this occasion it drew more than the normal share of criticism on social media, presumably due to its extraordinarily bad timing.

Harlequins were trailing by 31-12 but rallied late to close the gap to five points, raising the hopes of an upset for visiting England side.

Marler lashed out at Thomas Ramos in the 77th minute, which led to the referee overturning a penalty that had been awarded to Harlequins.

Toulouse seized this opportunity and held on to win 38-26 to secure their place in the final on May 25th.

Marler took full responsibility for the incident through a brief yet candid tweet.

He apologized directly to Harlequins fans and his teammates; expressing remorse for the incident which effectively snuffed out their hopes for an unlikely comeback.

Marler also praised his team's determination and recognized the support from travelling Harlequins supporters.

"F***ed it. Sorry. Harequins fans were huge. Boys were incredible," wrote Marler.

Toulouse will now face Leinster in the final, where they will hope to add another star to their jersey as Europe's most decorated club.

A disappointed Harequins director of rugby Billy Millard didn’t mention the incident after match: “We were getting counter-rucked at the breakdown. We let them in for some soft tries with some poor breakdown work.

“We didn’t start well. In these big games you can’t afford to have lapses, and we were poor in the first half, really.

“There was a lot of good stuff from today, and no injuries, and now we need to get back and prepare for a massive game (against Exeter) next weekend.

“We have got ourselves in positions in both competitions, so we have got to finish well. We will be gunning for the next two weeks.”

Despite the loss, Quins can reflect on what was an unprecedented Investec Champions Cup run for the West London side before turning their guns back on their Premiership run in.