Punishment falls short of crime for flawed Joe Marler

Joe Marler: Harlequins, England and the Lions. A great player undoubtedly, but flawed. Sadly, and unacceptably, this man has a poor record. By any school of thought, his actions and words in recent years have brought the game of rugby into disrepute. His latest outburst was directed at opponent Jake Heenan in Harlequins’ recent defeat to Bristol.

Marler was found guilty last week, by an RFU judicial panel, of referring to Heenan’s mother as a worker in the sex industry. As the standards in rugby continue to crumble, the punishment by the judiciary, headed up by the RFU’s Gareth Graham, would surely send out the clearest of signals that this would simply not be tolerated. Everybody awaited a long and exemplary sentence — here’s what happened.

Graham reasoned that indeed Marler’s words had no place in rugby and that the game’s core values must be fully supported. Well done that man, or so it seemed. But no, the panel also concluded that Marler deserved a reduction in the six-week sanction imposed, and, extraordinarily, reduced it by all of four weeks. Marler will miss only two Premiership matches and be nice and fresh for the remaining Heineken Cup pool matches and a potential call-up to the England squad.

This paltry punishment lets down every participant club, player and referee, whether amateur or professional

It really is a most appalling ruling to come out of the courts of rugby, whose role is surely to safeguard the game from violence on the pitch, physical or verbal. It also points, once again, to the lack of wisdom in allowing individual competitions to look after themselves in terms of disciplinary sanctions. This paltry punishment lets down every participant club, player and referee, whether amateur or professional. Marler’s reported statement to the panel that he uses this insult as a “go to” line” to aggravate opponents renders the decision utterly absurd.

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Let’s dig a little deeper.

In 2016 Marler was fined £20,000 alongside a two-week suspension for calling Welsh prop Samson Lee a “gypsy boy”. Then, in 2020, when, again playing for England against Wales, he was in serious trouble for his testicle twisting of Alan Wyn Jones, a 10-week suspension followed.

And now, two weeks (no fine) for this heinous verbal assault at an opposition player. It is, apparently, accompanied by a requirement to deliver a talk on the values of the game to a community group. Wow, that’ll really do the trick and what sort of message does it all send out? It seems, as time goes by, the sentence has actually become more lenient.

Where was the refereeing in all of this? Karl Dickson said he hadn’t heard the abusive words and then penalised Heenan for retaliation; a bit of common sense would have been a hell of a lot more appropriate. The retaliation was inevitable, with Heenan telling the panel that it was the failure of the referee to act when Marler repeated the insult, that made him (Heenan) lose his head - not good perhaps, but understandable. In awarding the penalty to Harlequins, the referee is clearly heard chatting to “Joe” — the argument against the use of friendly first names was never more obvious. Dickson, let’s not forget, is a former Harlequins player himself and was probably in an invidious position with his appointment to referee this fixture, something else for the RFU to consider in the future.

World Rugby and all unions must do everything to ensure that referees do not tolerate sledging of opponents in any shape or form. It must be a zero-tolerance approach. Match officials have a big responsibility, and have to play their part, whereas sometimes they are just too soft. Remember also that what is tolerated at the elite professional level inevitably filters down through the whole game.

The next question follows, is that the end of the matter? In 2009 Harlequins were the perpetrators of the infamous bloodgate affair, introducing a (blood) capsule to fake a cut injury against Leinster in the Heineken Cup. Now that they have another real scandal there are options open to them. Sweep the whole thing under the carpet, or the club could extend the punishment, sending out a very important message which would be in the best interests of the game as whole. It would also put the judiciary to shame, which is just about the only place for it.

And what of World Rugby? Whether or not they can appeal this it’s not at all certain what murky waters exist in a tangle with the RFU

Steve Borthwick, the new England coach, is admired by many, including this writer. He, too, has a choice — to say that Marler remains in contention for a place in his squad, or that he does not. Borthwick has an opportunity to make a really meaningful statement on the standards he demands of those who wear the treasured rose-emblemed jersey. Leaving the door open does little more than support a player who, sorry to say, no longer deserves it, tweeted apology or not.

And what of World Rugby? Whether or not they can appeal this it’s not at all certain what murky waters exist in a tangle with the RFU. But, at the very least, a statement of fundamental disagreement with the outcome could be issued, along with total abhorrence at the offence.

Abhorrence too, at the treatment of Cherif Traore, the Benetton player who hails from the African state of Guinea. He received an anonymous “secret Santa” gift from his team-mates — a rotten banana. This may have some distance to go, but the current state of play is that the club have suspended one un-named person. However, the laughter which apparently accompanied Traore opening his present puts everyone in the dock for racist abuse. Thankfully, URC are not going to let this be fudged and we await the outcome with great interest.

World Rugby needs to make its position very clear in relation to both incidents, and then consider what sort of individuals are involved in the sport these days. Respect and integrity are vital to the ethos and culture of rugby, and those who are not rock solid in support of these have no place in it. No matter who they are — as WR’s own vice-chairman and president of the FFR Bernard Laporte found out.