Quins vs Bristol - The Small Game - 27th Dec

[p/d]

Bad timing!!!!

[padprop]

Just a very strange bloke. Seems to bring stuff up from off the field (Samson Lee slur, Heenan’s mother) as if he presets his quips before each game. For someone who’s a big part of their brand is mental health it’s not a great look.

And the media just give him license to do it as it supposedly brings in views. The Sarra interview a few weeks ago I thought was quite belittling and distasteful but now its doing the rounds a viral clip posted by BT.

[Puja]

RugbyPass understands that Marler twice made disparaging remarks about the mother of one of the Bristol players – namely that she was a sex worker.
Marler will find out today if he is to face a disciplinary committee over the incident.

He really is an absolute tosser at times.

Quite apart from anything else - 'your mum' jokes? Really, Joe? 'Your mum' jokes?

Puja

[jimKRFC]

Marler cited: https://www.quins.co.uk/article/marler- ... nary-panel

[Banquo]

RugbyPass understands that Marler twice made disparaging remarks about the mother of one of the Bristol players – namely that she was a sex worker.
Marler will find out today if he is to face a disciplinary committee over the incident.

He really is an absolute tosser at times.

Quite apart from anything else - 'your mum' jokes? Really, Joe? 'Your mum' jokes?

Puja

He's become a ridiculous self parody. Given his own issues with mental health and his position in championing awareness, he really needs to have a good think.

[Mellsblue]

He’s says that one of his issues with his mental health is that he sometimes presses the self-destruct button, which you’d think is the case here. It also looks like he’s got very unlucky unless he keeps a close tabs on oppo players’ families. Eggshell skull rule, I suppose.
Would be interesting to see whether he uses his mental health in his defence and, if he does, how the panel take it in to account.

[FKAS]

2 week ban with 4 held back in case of a repeat. Convenient for England selection but he's then treading a thin line isn't he. If you're playing against him and he gets a bit mouthy all you need do is react.

[p/d]

I trust Borthwick wasn’t looking at him before the game, let alone now. He is not above the spirit of the game whatever presumed issues he might or might not have.

[Which Tyler]

Judgement contains strong words.
Then suspends 2/3 of the sentence.
For a player who repeatedly oversteps the boundaries.

[Puja]

Judgement contains strong words.
Then suspends 2/3 of the sentence.
For a player who repeatedly oversteps the boundaries.

Do you have the link?

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Content is not sensitive, is text from the judgement. Poster is a journalist for Planet Rugby

[Mr Mwenda]

Not nice and unnecessary. Still, I wish some of the bellends i played against apologised afterwards for some of their shit!

[Adam_P]

Here's the incident with audio. Absolute nonsense that Dickson didn't hear it either time.

[Whagwan]

That vids been removed I think but still viewable here:

[Puja]

That vids been removed I think but still viewable here:

Thank you for that - good to see the evidence. Marler deserves the full 6 weeks for that, nothing suspended. It's not a one off comment, he repeats it to try and get a reaction and then laughs and mocks Heenan after the reaction with, "Look at him, he's lost it. He's lost it."

It's not "banter" or a genial windup, it's just an unnecessary and deliberate insult to try and get a reaction. And it's a shit YourMum insult as well, only eliciting anything more than disdain because of Heenan's mum being in hospital.

I'm disappointed it ended up being rewarded with a penalty, although I don't really know what Dickson could've done differently if he didn't hear it (which is perfectly reasonable if he was paying attention to the scrum instead of props chopsing at each other).

Pujaa

[Mikey Brown]

Well this is unbelievably dumb from Marler on a personal level, but I’m not really sure what it means in terms of the game if being a mouthy twat to another player is earning people bans.

No defence of what he’s saying or him being punished, I just have no idea where the precedent starts, or ends.

[Spiffy]

Not nice and unnecessary. Still, I wish some of the bellends i played against apologised afterwards for some of their shit!

Is this kind of mouthing off a generational thing, or something that has arisen with the professional game, or what? It's a long time since I gave up playing but I think that trash talk, sledging or whatever you want to call it was pretty rare a generation or two ago. Also, I suppose it was summarily dealt with on the pitch by the players themselves without the current threat of a red card for reacting.

[Mr Mwenda]

Not nice and unnecessary. Still, I wish some of the bellends i played against apologised afterwards for some of their shit!

Is this kind of mouthing off a generational thing, or something that has arisen with the professional game, or what? It's a long time since I gave up playing but I think that trash talk, sledging or whatever you want to call it was pretty rare a generation or two ago. Also, I suppose it was summarily dealt with on the pitch by the players themselves without the current threat of a red card for reacting.

In most places I've played, there's always been the club of wankers that comes around every year. Dunno if it has worsened. Swedish rugby has more than it's share of so and sos playing regularly, largely i think because lack of player numbers these people seldom get shoved out of clubs like they might back in the Isles. Also, those who end up rugby players are misfits anyway.

At the top level, surely it is the sort of thing one would expect in a pro game - sadly it is a way to get an edge and if that can help guarantee one's wages this week then people will do it.

[Mr Mwenda]

Well this is unbelievably dumb from Marler on a personal level, but I’m not really sure what it means in terms of the game if being a mouthy twat to another player is earning people bans.

No defence of what he’s saying or him being punished, I just have no idea where the precedent starts, or ends.

I have also felt something similar. I find the way the rugby media ecosystem echoes with words like "disgusting" for things like this while revelling in a bit of foul play, castigating every referee error, along with plenty of jeering, is pretty hypocritical. Marler has built this "character" with the media and rugby public. Not sure he's worth the collective oxygen, rackon.

[FKAS]

Not nice and unnecessary. Still, I wish some of the bellends i played against apologised afterwards for some of their shit!

Is this kind of mouthing off a generational thing, or something that has arisen with the professional game, or what? It's a long time since I gave up playing but I think that trash talk, sledging or whatever you want to call it was pretty rare a generation or two ago. Also, I suppose it was summarily dealt with on the pitch by the players themselves without the current threat of a red card for reacting.

See I played more recently and there was definitely more trash talking involved. It was at a level where there was only a ref so fisty cuffs still happened though so you had to be careful what you said to whom.

With a TMO ensuring you wouldn't get stood all over at the next ruck or punched in the mouth at the next maul then I expect it's very widespread.

[Scrumhead]

Yeah I’d agree with that. I only stopped playing in 2022 and here was definitely plenty of verbals - mostly at scrums and mauls.

I spent a good bit of time playing hooker with a prop who was a major WUM. Most of the time it was quite funny, but it often made me cringe and wasn’t usually helpful.

[Donny osmond]

This is a weird situation. Calling someone's mum a whore clearly isn't great but it's not that big of a deal either... 2 weeks for that seems like a piss take to me. From all the hoohah I was here thinking Marler must've wished some awful disease or something. "Your mum's a whore" is pathetic, but the reaction to it hasn't been much better.

[twitchy]

This is a weird situation. Calling someone's mum a whore clearly isn't great but it's not that big of a deal either... 2 weeks for that seems like a piss take to me. From all the hoohah I was here thinking Marler must've wished some awful disease or something. "Your mum's a whore" is pathetic, but the reaction to it hasn't been much better.

I pretty much agree. Marler pushed a specific button by accident. It's been blown out of proportion by it all being public.

[fivepointer]

Once it was made public action had to follow. The game does have a responsibility to project the right image and a senior pro acting like a dickhead cannot go unchallenged.

[stepsider]

While Marler's "I'm a witty character" act is becoming seriously tedious, and while very low-rent...this probably wasn't the worst thing said on a rugby - or indeed any other - sports field last year.

As Mikey Brown asks, where does precedent start or end?