George says prop's comments 'prodded the bear'

Jamie George has admitted Joe Marler might have poked the bear with his criticism of the haka before revealing England are considering a response to New Zealand's traditional war dance at Twickenham tomorrow.

- Gerard Meagher

The England captain said he disagreed with Marler's view that the haka should be "binned", insisting he "loves the history of it" but does believe opponents should be entitled to respond in a respectful manner.

George revealed he has spoken to Marler who, as the Guardian exclusively revealed, left the England team camp at the start of the week for personal reasons, and while the captain does not believe the prop has caused a distraction, he acknowledged it could provide New Zealand with a bit of extra motivation.

The All Blacks head coach, Scott Robertson, said that Marler "could have articulated himself a little bit better" and said any responses to the haka should be respectful while the flanker Sam Cane claimed that the England front-rower "knew exactly what he was doing" before insisting that performing war dance is a show of respect.

"It's classic Joe if I'm honest," said George. "He's always been a little bit close to the line with certain social media posts. It's not unhelpful. It's a conversation that Joe and I actually had the week before; thoughts on it, what can we do back to it. I guess he's sort of prodded the bear a little bit. We've chatted a little bit this week and I just said, 'cheers mate, thanks very much'."