Joe Marler's latest ban is a farce - Andy Goode

Joe Marler being banned for just two weeks is a farce and World Rugby need to clamp down on unions dishing out whatever punishments suit them.

The Marler example is just the latest in a long line of cases where high-profile players have been dealt with leniently, Antoine Dupont and Darcy Swain being a couple of others recently, and it’s incumbent on a global governing body to ensure everyone is playing by the same rules.

It’s a farce that the RFU are able to circumvent World Rugby’s guidelines and decide that they are “not bound by the sanctions table” because they view it as a breach of RFU Rule 5.12 rather than World Rugby Law 9.12 or Law 9.27.

Being Barbarians | Trailer

Being Barbarians | Trailer

Those latter two laws cover acts of verbal abuse and acts contrary to good sportsmanship. You’d be hard pushed to find anyone who thinks what Marler said doesn’t come under one or both of those laws.

People arguing that this is just banter need to take a long hard look at themselves as well. It’s one thing to say that someone got dressed in the dark or has a dodgy lid but you don’t go after people’s families.

Wherever you choose to draw the line, calling someone’s mother a “whore” is way over it in my book and the fact that Marler has positioned himself as a mental health advocate makes it even worse.

Everyone makes mistakes and he has at least apologised but he said it twice and it’s not an isolated incident as he’s previously called Samson Lee “gypsy boy”, grabbed Alun Wyn Jones’ testicles and squeezed water in James Haskell’s face.

That track record makes the length of this ban all the more astounding. The RFU’s own press release even references that the panel “had regard to the player’s poor disciplinary record (as an aggravating feature)” and yet he still misses just two weeks.

Players often have their bans halved because of a clear disciplinary record, which is a bit of a joke in itself, but that avenue wasn’t available to the RFU and I’m not sure where the option to suspend four weeks of the original six-week ban has come from.

It’ll be interesting to see if he is named in Steve Borthwick’s England squad for the upcoming Six Nations but there’s no doubt the optics won’t be good if he is.

Dupont recently had his ban halved on appeal following his dangerous collision with Cheslin Kolbe and the Wallabies were somehow able to use Australia A games to mean Swain’s ban was dramatically reduced.

World Rugby simply has to get tougher and ensure there are clear and firm guidelines that everyone has to stick to rather than allowing individual unions to ride roughshod over them.

I’ve read in some quarters that the RFU’s statement was strongly worded because it said Marler’s comments “should form no part of the modern game” and stressed the need to protect the values of the sport.

“Rugby’s core values are not empty words or slogans which can be signed up to and then ignored. They are not to be treated as useful bolt-ons dreamt up by a marketing team. They are integral to the game and are what make the game special,” it added.

Actions speak louder than words, though, and suspending someone for just a couple of weeks and circumventing World Rugby’s laws doesn’t suggest it’s being dealt with strongly or taken seriously to me.

Marler must know himself that he treads a fine line and gets plaudits left, right and centre for being a character so when he oversteps the mark like he undoubtedly has here, he has to take punishment but it is how those punishments are meted out that is the bigger issue.

The RFU have let themselves down in my opinion but I’ve banged the drum for World Rugby to be stronger on this issue before and I think it’s about time they take a stand.

There has to be one set of very clear regulations for everyone to abide by and one set of definitive sanctions that all players, regardless of their profile or nationality, are subject to if they fall foul of those.

We’re about to head into a World Cup year and as we get closer to that biggest of stages we’re bound to see even more examples of unions imposing their own punishments if they see that they can get away with it.

Consistency and a level playing field are two of the basics that authorities should be looking to achieve in any sport and I’m not sure we can say that is the case in rugby at the moment. Here’s hoping for an improvement in 2023.