Joe Marler: I’m really sorry for comments to Jake Heenan | ‘My wife said: Why would I defend you? Just stop’ | Rugby Union News

“She [Marler’s wife] turned round to me after and she was like, ‘You’re an idiot, aren’t you? You’re just a moron.’ I went: ‘What do you mean? I thought you’re meant to defend me.’ And she went: ‘Why am I defending you? Why don’t you just stop doing it?’ – Marler

Joe Marler has apologised again for his comments to Jake Heenan, adding his wife said: ‘Why don’t you just stop doing it?’

Joe Marler has apologised again for his comments to Bristol’s Jake Heenan, and revealed his wife has taken him to task over the incident in which he made an offensive remark about the Bristol flanker’s mother.

Harlequins and England prop Marler was charged by the Rugby Football Union for conduct prejudicial to the game, having twice made a comment about Heenan’s mother during a Gallagher Premiership game last month.

Marler received a two-week ban, with a further four weeks suspended, in his latest brush with the rugby authorities.

In 2016, he was handed a two-week suspension and fined £20,000 for calling Wales prop Samson Lee “gypsy boy”, and two years ago he received a 10-week ban for grabbing Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones’ genitals during a Six Nations game.

An independent disciplinary panel took Marler’s chequered history into account, but also noted that he had apologised to Heenan.

“I’m really sorry to Jake Heenan and his family, the guy I insulted or tried to insult, and also to my team-mates and to the club, because they must really now be at a point where they’re like ‘here we go again’,” Marler said on The Joe Marler Show.

“At what point do you go, ‘yeah, you can say sorry, mate, but just stop f****** doing it?’ I guess this is the point, is it?

Marler has been punished for off-the-ball offences previously, including a 10-week ban for grabbing Alun Wyn Jones by the genitals

“We always have a choice, don’t we? We have a choice whether you can actually use this for good, regardless of what the RFU have done in terms of banning or setting an example.

“It’s about what can I do to make this be useful and good for me moving forward.

Marler was given a six week ban for the comments – four weeks of which were suspended

“And I guess it is a realisation that I haven’t got long actually being able to play the game left. So I want to use whatever time I have left at the club to actually embrace it and play the game.”

Heenan reacted angrily to Marler’s comments, prompting a large melee between the sides.

Marler said he had “absolutely no idea” that Heenan’s mother was in hospital and revealed that his (Marler’s) wife took him to task over the episode.

Marler made disparaging comments about Bristol flanker Jake Heenan’s mother, who is ill in hospital

“She turned round to me after and she was like, ‘You’re an idiot, aren’t you? You’re just a moron’,” Marler added.

“I went: ‘What do you mean? I thought you’re meant to defend me.”

“And she went: ‘Why am I defending you? That’s not even a funny attempt. Why don’t you just stop doing it? Or, if you feel the need to do it, just don’t bring family members into it’.

“‘You never know what’s going on in people’s lives and just because it doesn’t affect you on the pitch doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect other people’.”

Marler, who has 83 Test caps for England, reiterated his apology for his actions