Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has defended England star Joe Marler following the controversial Alun Wyn Jones moment.
The incident on Saturday has divided opinions with rugby fans. Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones has called for World Rugby to act after Marler grabbed him by the penis in England’s win at Twickenham. And former World Cup referee Jonathan Kaplan believes that Marler should have been yellow-carded for the incident .
Talking about the incident on Monday’s Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan said: “What was a little tickle and all hell broke loose. I thought the whole thing was funny, because I remember Vinnie Jones doing this to Paul Gascoigne. And for 90 years since that picture we’ve all laughed about it and said what fun. “
Co-host Susanna Reid questioned whether we had been laughing at that moment over the decades, wondering whether it was an “unnecessary” move.
Piers began mocking his co-host, as he said: “Oh, was it inappropriate? Should Vinnie have been arrested for assault? “
However, Susanna said that she was not sure it’s something that” we want to encourage “.
Marler has seemingingly responded to the storm with an expletive-ridden tweet. He took to Twitter after the furore, writing: “B ks. Complete b ks.”
The outspoken TV presenter then tweeted to say that he stands with Marler.
On Sunday evening, Piers also took to Twitter calling those who think Marler should be arrested as “exhausting”.
He said: “There are now two types of people in the world – those who laughed at this @JoeMarler incident, and those who think he should be arrested. I’m in the first category. Those in the second are f cking exhausting. “
During Saturday’s game, the England prop was caught by TV cameras smirking as he grabbed the Wales skipper between the legs.
The incident was missed by all officials, including the TMO, much to the dismay of the second row.
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