Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn made a guest appearance on Joe Marler's podcast, where he posed a question to the England rugby prop: if he could pick any rugby player, past or present, to have a brawl with, who would it be?
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Marler, no stranger to on-field altercations throughout his decade-long career, chose a former teammate with whom he's already exchanged blows.
With no hesitation, he nominated James Haskell as his ideal adversary, though he swiftly retreated from several proposed combat formats.
He said" I\can't stand Hask,"
Rather than opting for the conventional MMA or boxing route, Marler humorously insisted that his only shot at victory would be in a classic barroom brawl.
Five rugby players Joe Marler really doesn’t like
England's prop, Joe Marler, is always unafraid to express his opinions, especially when it involves someone he isn't particularly fond of.
#1. Manu Tuilagi
During the Fiji quarter-final match, a particular moment left some viewers puzzled while watching the broadcast. It involved an interaction between Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marler.
Upon initial observation, it appeared as if Tuilagi and Marler were engaging in a confrontational exchange. Tuilagi seemingly pushed Marler with his chest, right in the presence of referee Mathieu Reynal. In response, Marler decisively pushed Tuilagi, removing him from the camera frame entirely.
In the subsequent semi-final, the two players had another heated encounter. This time, Marler confronted Manu Tuilagi, expressing his displeasure after Tuilagi's excessive celebration led to the reversal of a penalty awarded to England.
One fan wrote: "Some tension it seems, between joe marler and manu tuilagi the past few weeks, first joe shoved manu last week, now he’s having to tell manu to pack it in… interesting."
Another said: "Marler is going to deck Tuilagi in a minute, and it will be well deserved- losing his head less than 20 minutes in is poor."
A third said: "Beef between Marler and Tuilagi?"
#2. Gavin Henson
These two have history. Henson was ruled out for a number of weeks in 2016 after Marler clattered the Welsh Prince off the ball.
The England prop was returning to rugby after a troubled 2015-16 season, that prompted the loosehead to take a break from the game in the summer missing England's historic 3-0 whitewash of the Wallabies Down Under.
A story from Marler's book shows the ego of Henson in 2005 was off the scale. Being told to hurry up with his hair by his captain Gareth Thomas, the playmaker showed his skipper little respect.H
enson's reply to Thomas was: "Alf, your mother and father have come to watch you play today, but there are 72,000 out there who have come to watch me."
#3. Sir Clive Woodward
Woodward tore apart Eddie Jones' side during a webinar, slamming Marler and fellow prop Dan Cole for their behaviour in a press conference prior to the loss against South Africa back in November. This wasn't the first time the 2003 World Cup-winning coach called out the prop.
After reading an article on the Rugby Pass website highlighting Woodward's comments, he tweeted him directly, saying: "Change the record Sir Clive - you should be grateful you can 'milk the cow' for another 3 years."
#4. Israel Folau
Over 1,000 days since Folau last played a professional match of rugby union, Marler's old Twitter sparring partner made his return to the sport over the weekend.
The loose-head prop takes any chance he can to call out the former Wallabies fullback, who could soon represent Tonga, for his homophobic views.
In a series of tweets sent directly to Folau, Marler attached pictures and GIFs of men kissing, in a display of defiant humour which was praised by fellow players and LGBTQ fans alike.
Marler later named Folau in his dream team in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
On selecting Folau as his fullback, Marler commented, "On the night out, after we had played our match on the Saturday, I'd take him out in Brighton to The Blue Oyster... a couple of clubs."
#5. Marland Yarde
The winger dramatically left Harlequins in 2017 to join Premiership rivals Sale Sharks in an unusual mid-season move.
Marler said: “I hadn’t spoken to the bloke in 18 months,
“I’d lost the plot with him a good while ago. And let him be, let him do his own thing, because I’d given up on it
“He’d made the decision that he wanted to leave…you know, all the best to him. I wish him all the best. I don’t wish nastiness upon anyone.
“He’s one of those to just leave, as he won’t change in my mind. Me and him just don’t get on.”
