Joe Marler was suspended for two matches and fined £20,000 by World Rugby in 2016 following his ‘gypsy boy’ jibes in the England-Wales game during the Six nations.
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Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire on BBC 2, Billy Joe Saunders added that he had discussed Marler’s comments with Tyson Fury. Both were ‘disgusted’ by Marler’s remarks.
“In our culture we’ve had this most of our lives. It’s not been so bad in the last few years. When you receive abuse on social media from Twitter and Facebook trolls it’s not so bad but when you receive it in sport it’s not acceptable.
“I’ve had it all my life but I’ve never had it in my sport from another sportsman. I was a fan of rugby and now I probably won’t watch England play rugby anymore.
“Now other people might think twice about using the term in an offensive way. There is no room for any racism is sport; especially at the standard that he is playing. I was talking about it on the phone to my friend Tyson Fury last night and we are both disgusted by it.
“I think Tyson wanted to get him in the ring and knock him out.”
The 33-man England Squad Steve Borthwick Should Select For Summer Tour
It’s been a decade since England’s last visit to New Zealand, a challenging 2014 series under Stuart Lancaster resulting in a 3-0 defeat.
The memories of the 2008 tour aren’t any sweeter, with England tasting defeat in both Tests against the All Blacks. However, a glimmer of triumph emerged in 2003, as they secured a thrilling 15-13 victory over New Zealand just before the Rugby World Cup.
In this highly anticipated tour, Borthwick’s squad will face a formidable challenge with only two tests against the All Blacks, following a clash with Japan in Tokyo.
Here is the list of our predicted squad organised by their current clubs:
RUCK’s England squad for the summer:
Harlequins
- Joe Marler
- Fin Baxter
- Chandler Cunningham-South
- Marcus Smith
Bristol Bears
- Ellis Genge
- Harry Randall
- Gabriel Ibitoye
Saracens
- Jamie George
- Theo Dan
- Maro Itoje
- Ben Earl
- Elliot Daly