England prop Joe Marler has re-activated his X account after saying New Zealand should stop performing the Haka, the side's pre-match tradition.
England face the All Blacks on Saturday in their first game of this year's autumn international, although Marler has not been named in Steve Borthwick's matchday squad.
Marler had briefly deactivated his account after posting on X: "The haka needs binning. It's ridiculous."
"It's only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the [rugby] league boys did last week," he added in a second post.
ESPN have approached the All Blacks for a response. The Rugby Football Union declined to comment.
On Wednesday, Marler reactivated his account and explained his remarks.
"Context is everything. Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses," he said, adding in another post that he "also needed to satisfy my narcissism."
Information from James Regan contributed to this report.
Further reading:
- State of the unions: How rugby's top 10 shape up this November
- Autumn internationals to trial 20-minute red cards
- Borthwick defends England environment after departures
