England international Joe Marler has apologised after his alleged on-field comments sparked an all-in brawl during Harlequins’ 15-12 loss to Bristol Bears.
Marler allegedly made an inappropriate comment about Bristol Bears star Jake Heenan’s mother towards the end of the first half which left the Kiwi star furious.
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The scuffle happened after a scrum descended into chaos and Heenan had to be held back by two of his Bristol teammates.
Referee Karl Dickson was forced to penalise the Bears for retaliating, however he also appeared to understand what had led to the fracas in the first place when discussing the issue with Bristol skipper Steven Luatua.
According to The Telegraph,Marler’s alleged comment towards Heenan is related to his mother.
RugbyPass has also claimed Marler allegedly made negative comments about the mother of a Bristol player on two occasions, including one insinuating she was a sex worker.
The Kiwi is also heard speaking to Dickson where he told the referee: “Karl, my mum’s in hospital.”
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Former England star Andy Goode took to Twitter to share this thoughts on the game and asked: “Anyone know what Joe Marler said to infuriate Jake Heenan and Yann Thomas? Marler looked a bit sheepish after it kicked off.”
Luatua replied: “I only found out on the way home. You and I would have done the same. That was absolute bulls**t from Marler.”
The Bears captain then added: “@JoeMarler surely @HeenanJake deserves an apology. Fair? Merry Christmas.”
Marler then apologised for his comment.
“Yep. You’re right,” Marler tweeted.
“I’m sorry @HeenanJake – p*** poor from me. Owe you a pint/coffee in the new year.”
Speaking after the clash, Pat Lam, Bristol’s director of rugby, confirmed he had not spoken to Heenan yet but claimed the Kiwi’s reaction was something he had “never seen before.”
““I love Joe Marler,” Lam said.
“[But] I brought Jake over from New Zealand to Connacht and to here [Bristol]. He is like a son to our family and I have never seen him like that. It is best to say one of the areas we are all trying to work on is the spirit of the game.
“Something was said and there was a reaction from Jake that 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. I will leave that to other people. We will just crack on.”
Marler is set to learn his disciplinary fate in the coming days.
