England star calls for 'ridiculous' All Blacks Haka to be binned then deactivates X account

The mind games have begun ahead of England's Test against New Zealand.

Harlequins prop Joe Marler has questioned the place of New Zealand's haka in the game, saying that it "needs binning" and it's "ridiculous".

Steve Borthwick's England host New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, formerly Twickenham, on Saturday, November 2, in the first Test of the autumn internationals.

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Marler's comments come just after the viral England v Samoa rugby league clip on social media. It shows the Samoans performing their Siva Tau war dance, which is often confused with the haka. England's Mikey Lewis fronted up to Gordon Chan Kum Tong just inches apart in tense footage.

Marler added to his original post on X by saying: "It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week."

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At the time of writing, it seems as if Marler has deactivated his X account. When searching for his Instagram handle, it shows up that the 'account doesn't exist'.

One fan wrote: "An Englishman saying this is f****** hilarious; worry about winning some games first, aye?"

As it goes, Marler was part of the England team that famously challenged the haka in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final, which England went on to win 19-7.

A New Zealand rugby fan commented: "I quite liked Marler. He’s crossed the line in an embarrassing & disrespectful way. This isn’t about the sport, It’s about my country's origin & the impact long before you popped up. You offended a nation. Ya wanted the fire? I imagine it will have been lit."

Dragons RFC winger Ashton Hewitt replied to a RugbyPass story being posted on the subject on X, saying: "This is s******g on other cultures, not a ‘playful post’."

England named their 23-player squad on Tuesday evening, and Marler has not been included.