Joe Marler faces possible disciplinary action for verbal incident

Joe Marler faces possible disciplinary action for verbally provoking Bristol flanker Jake Heenan as Harlequins slumped to a 15-12 Gallagher Premiership defeat.

Heenan was incensed by something the England prop said in the second quarter at Twickenham Stoop, igniting a large scuffle, but referee Karl Dickson instead penalised the Bears.

Bristol captain Steven Luatua had urged Dickson to punish Marler because of his comments, but the official only stated that it was not in the spirit of the game.

Marler will discover on Wednesday if he is to be cited by the match commissioner for an incident that could extend his already lengthy disciplinary record.

“I brought Jake over from New Zealand to Connacht and to Bristol. He’s like a son to our family and I have never seen him like that,” Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said.

“It’s best to say one of the areas we are all trying to work on is the spirit of the game. I love Joe Marler but something was said and there was a reaction from Jake I have never seen before.

“We are all custodians of the game – players, coaches – and one thing we all value and we all work hard to keep is the right values and spirit. Jake reacted to something that was said. That’s all I know what happened.”

Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson was aware of the incident but insisted he did not know the nature of Marler’s comments to Heenan.

“Joe does tease people. I don’t know what was said but Joe’s quite antagonistic. He’s hard to play against and I thought Karl Dickson handled it well,” Matson said.

Quins pounded away for virtually the entire second half but could manage only one try through wing Cadan Murley, having trailed 15-5 at the interval.

They turned down a shot at goal that could have levelled the score with four minutes to go in search of the match-winning try that was almost delivered by Andre Esterhuizen, only for desperate defending to deny the South African centre.

Matson refused to blame his team for rolling the dice in the closing minutes.

“We absolutely back our players and our captain to be really positive. In hindsight it’s take the three, take the draw. Maybe exit and have another crack,” Matson said.

“But one of the things I love about joining this club is the positive intent. If there’s an opportunity to score a try we’ll go for that first.

“And so I tip my hat to the decision. Clearly it cost us, but I tip my hat.”