France international responds after hilarious taunt by Joe Marler during match
Despite playing one of the biggest games of the season yesterday, there was no chance Joe Marler was going to take the situation that seriously, which is expected from the England and Harlequins loosehead.
Playing in a Quins side that were seeking to overturn a 14 point deficit against Montpellier at the Stoop, Marler was up to his usual tricks early on at his home ground.
Just minutes into the game, Marler was protecting Danny Care as the scrum-half prepared a box kick, with Montpellier flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo eyeing a charge down. Marler was seen pointing at him, instructing him to stay back, as if he were a child, in a typical Marer-esque taunt.
The 39-cap Frenchman saw the funny side after the game though, laughing at Marler’s antics on Twitter. Then again, of course he would have been happy as, despite losing 33-20 at the Stoop, Montpellier won the last 16 tie in the Heineken Champions Cup 60-59 on aggregate. The match came down to a late conversion to Marcus Smith, which the England No10 missed. His coach Tabai Matson addressed the kick after the match.
“He (Smith) will be disappointed like all the players who have really high standards,” Matson said.
“It will hit him, but we play Leicester next week. Our Europe is over, that is the big thing, and that is gutting and it is how quickly you bounce.
“As with all the guys that touch the ball the most, they get a bit of leeway because the margin of error is really hard.
“You don’t have to tell someone they missed a pass or missed a goal-kick. They know.
“It is not just him. He was there for the winning of the game at the end, but you can’t put the blame down to him.
“We probably had three opportunities in the first half that we missed to get the scoreboard ticking over.”
😂😂😂@Harlequins | @JoeMarler pic.twitter.com/vdx6CT5N4N
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/FufuOuedraogo/status/1515355575705608193?s=20&t=MIPfV1yF77VAPOGke_TaWw
