England and Quins prop Marler given two-week sanction for Heenan comments

Joe Marler has been banned for two weeks with a further four suspended over comments made by the England and Harlequins prop to Bristol Bears' Jake Heenan.

Marler, who has been capped 79 times by England, reportedly made a remark over Heenan's mother during Quins' 15-12 Premiership defeat to Bristol at the Stoop on Tuesday. 

The comment led to a melee on the field between the two sets of players and the Bristol flanker received a penalty in the aftermath.

Marler was given a six-week suspension on Friday but four of those have been suspended. He will also be required to give a presentation to a local club or school, as well as a Premiership academy, on what the core values of rugby are.

Gareth Graham, RFU disciplinary panel chair, said: "The player [Marler] accepted that his conduct was prejudicial to the interests of the game.

"Rugby's core values are not empty words or slogans which can be signed up to and then ignored. They are integral to the game.

"The insulting and offensive comments made by the player were wholly inappropriate; such comments should form no part of the modern game."

Marler is no stranger to controversy on the field, having been suspended and fined in 2016 for an incident with Wales prop Samson Lee, while he received a 10-week ban in 2020 for grabbing Alun Wyn Jones' genitals during a Six Nations match.