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Joe Marler's behaviour publicly questioned by Gustard after 'absolutely ridiculous' yellow

By Online Editors
Harlequins' Joe Marler shakes the hand of Sale's Jean-Luc du Preez after receiving a yellow card (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Harlequins head of rugby Paul Gustard branded Joe Marler’s actions “absolutely ridiculous” after the prop was sin-binned in his side’s 48-10 mauling at the hands of Sale.

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Marler did not appear to be provoked when he put his elbow into the face of Sharks forward Jean-Luc du Preez at the start of the second half and duly earned 10 minutes off the field.

Although the visitors held out while the England loosehead was in the sin-bin, it was symptomatic of an ill-disciplined performance by the Londoners as they eventually conceded six tries.

“I’m sure Joe will look at himself, it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Gustard said. “There’s no need for that. There was plenty of off-the-ball stuff from Sale and we have got to rise above it but Joe was the protagonist and there’s just no place for that. It cost us an important player for 10 minutes and put the team under pressure again.”

Gustard also criticised his side’s whole display as Quins failed to secure the win which would have taken them into the top four ahead of the weekend’s action. He said: “It was very poor, we weren’t good enough. We got beaten up, Sale were much more physical than we were and got on top at the set-piece.

(Continue reading below…)

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“The only thing we can do is look at ourselves, regroup and address selection. We’ve got to find a way to win games. For all our possession we weren’t able to manufacture a score. We didn’t control the middle of the field very well and our discipline was poor.”

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Quins are in Heineken Champions Cup action over the next two weeks, travelling to Bath before hosting Clermont Auvergne. Looking ahead to those matches, Gustard said: “I want to see people out there that have got character, I want people out there to show a bit of spirit and I need to see something more from my team because tonight was not an acceptable performance from a Harlequins team.”

Sale were in dominant form at the AJ Bell Stadium and established a 24-10 half-time lead following tries from Akker van der Merwe and the James brothers, Sam and Luke. The second period began as a much calmer affair, with Rob du Preez’s penalty the only points in the third quarter, but Sale finished with a flourish as Rob Webber, Chris Ashton and Rohan Janse van Rensburg all touched down to secure a bonus-point win.

Harlequins had taken an early lead through abriel Ibitoye’s converted try but their only addition to the scoreboard after that was a Marcus Smith three-pointer before the interval, and they went point-less in the second half. Quins are now eighth in the Gallagher Premiership standings, five points and five places behind a Sale team that displayed their play-off credentials with a complete demolition of one of their supposed top-four rivals.

Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond said: “I’m happy with the result. We did well first half, weathered a storm in the first seven or eight minutes in the second half and took that penalty which seemed to take away any anxiety, and then we opened up as best we could.

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“If you run hard and create momentum, you can run away with it and we managed to do that. What we’ve got is big lads. The du Preez lads are all enormous and the Currys, if you take one off, the next one comes on and there’s no difference in our book; I know Eddie Jones thinks differently.

“We’ve got two fantastic players there and then the skill Luke and Sam (James) show week in week out is just outstanding.”

– Press Association 

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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