{"id":398765,"date":"2026-01-30T13:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/398765\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T13:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T13:00:09","slug":"joe-marler-alun-wyn-jones-is-so-overrated-he-had-one-good-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/398765\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Marler: Alun Wyn Jones is so overrated, he had one good year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The former England prop has made his feelings clear on Jones with a brutally honest assessment<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_GettyImages-1205690380.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Marler was banned for 10 weeks after grabbing Jones' genitals in 2020\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Marler was banned for 10 weeks after grabbing Jones&#8217; genitals in 2020<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Joe Marler has claimed Alun Wyn Jones is &#8220;massively overrated&#8221;, six years on from being banned from rugby for grabbing the Wales legend&#8217;s genitals during a match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Former England prop Marler<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/sport\/rugby\/rugby-news\/joe-marler-ban-genital-grab-17915336\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\"> was suspended for 10 weeks following the incident<\/a>, which occurred during his side&#8217;s win over Wales in the 2020 <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/six-nations\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Six Nations<\/a>. In the middle of a scuffle that broke out between the two teams less than 10 minutes into the match at Twickenham, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/sport\/rugby\/rugby-news\/joe-marler-alun-wyn-jones-17883045\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">the loosehead was caught on camera making the grab at the Wales captain, sparking fury among rugby fans.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After the match, a stunned Jones described the England international, &#8211; who he represented the British &amp; Irish Lions alongside in 2017 &#8211; as a &#8220;good bloke&#8221;, but insisted that rugby&#8217;s authorities should take appropriate action against him for the act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE! <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Walesrugbynews\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Months on from the incident, Marler revealed that he hadn&#8217;t spoken to Jones since and, while he admitted what he did was &#8220;inappropriate and wrong,&#8221; dismissed it as &#8220;a bit of a brain fart&#8221; and &#8220;a laugh&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Now, he has made his feelings clear on the Welshman with a brutally honest assessment while picking his all-time Six Nations team with former teammate Danny Care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fNDnrwmVAaw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Appearing on Care&#8217;s Hits Different podcast<\/a>, the former Harlequins prop was tasked with picking the forwards for the team and quickly shot down the host&#8217;s suggestion for who should take a spot in the second row.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;d like to put Alun Wyn Jones in there,&#8221; said Care, to which Marler laughed and replied: &#8220;If you want. So overrated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Someone can then be heard off screen asking &#8220;really?&#8221;, with the Celebrity Traitors star adding: &#8220;It&#8217;s unbelievable. He had one year,&#8221; before laughing again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Instead, the former England duo opted to pick Lions captains Maro Itoje and Paul O&#8217;Connell as their starting second rows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Jones wasn&#8217;t the only big name in the firing line, however, with Marler also referring to legendary Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton as &#8220;garbage&#8221; before describing France star Thomas Ramos as &#8220;such a helmet on the pitch&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He also questioned Care&#8217;s suggestions of Wales backs Gareth Davies and George North, although the latter was ultimately included in the pair&#8217;s all-time XV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, Jones aside, Marler had a lot more appreciation for Wales&#8217; forwards, with three making it in to his ultimate Six Nations pack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Including Richard Hibbard and Adam Jones in his front row, he said of the former: &#8220;He&#8217;s massive. He used to melt people, remember when he melted me in 2013?&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In the back row, he selected Justin Tipuric at seven, adding that he would &#8220;100 per cent&#8221; take him in his team over former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;No question,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was just unfortunate that he was competing with Warburton at the time, do you know what I mean? But he&#8217;s one of the most skilled&#8230; unbelievable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our<a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=e90f3817-255f-4349-881b-d9a4515d3f52&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\"> free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/L8kRCygN2HM6E7iILK0spC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former England prop has made his feelings clear on Jones with a brutally honest assessment Marler was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[41649,7166,5903,43326,101,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-398765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-alun-wyn-jones","tag-england-rugby-union-team","tag-rugby","tag-six-nations","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}