Paul Gustard labels Joe Marler's needless elbowing as 'absolutely ridiculous'

Harlequins coach Paul Gustard labelled Joe Marler's elbowing of Sale Sharks flank Jean-Luc du Preez as ‘absolutely ridiculous’ following their 48-10 defeat on Friday.

The incident took place early in the second half with Marler receiver a yellow card.

Joe Marler got to meet all the du Preezs at once 🤝 pic.twitter.com/PAMCoFsCGY

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) January 4, 2020

‘I’m sure Joe will look at himself, it’s absolutely ridiculous,’ Gustard said. ‘There’s no need for that.

‘There was plenty of off-the-ball stuff from Sale and we’ve got to rise above it but Joe was the protagonist and there’s just no place for that.

‘It cost us an important player for 10 minutes and put the team under pressure again.’