Bristol Boss Lashes Out At Joe Marler Over Gavin Henson Injury

Bristol’s director of rugby, has blamed Joe Marler for the newly promoted side’s poor start to the season.

Marler was involved in a late challenge on playmaker Gavin Henson on the opening game of the season, which the former Wales and Lions man has yet to recover from.

While Marler’s tackle on Henson was deemed fair by referee Luke Pearce, Bristol boss Robinson has lashed out at Marler ahead of their game on Friday, suggesting it was far from an innocent tackle and the repercusions has cost them dearly.

“Gavin is still struggling, which we’re disappointed about.

“And it just shows you – people look at the incident and go ‘that was pretty innocuous’.

“Well, actually, that incident – when he didn’t have the ball, hit by a player who didn’t have the ball – has cost us three matches with one of our better players, and a player who was playing well.

“We can deal with those incidents, but it can be pretty hurtful to a team.

“You can accept if he had the ball, but it’s harder to accept when contact is made with a player in the way that it was.”

Marler hasn’t been one to shy away from controversy and indiscipline this past year, which makes you think, was the tackle malicious? [WalesOnline]