Tonight's rugby news as Wales star on way back after injury hell and Marler leaves England camp

Your rugby evening headlines on Wednesday, October 30.

Joe Marler leaves England camp

England prop Joe Marler has reactivated his X account and explained his comments about the haka, but has left camp.

The Harlequins prop branded the Maori war dance as "ridiculous" and said that it "needs binning", before adding: "It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week." Marler was referring to England's stand-off with Samoa's Siva Tau war dance in the latter part of that statement.

After posting the above comments, Marler received a backlash and ended up deactivating his account altogether. However, he has now returned to social media in order to explain himself.

"Context is everything," he wrote. "Just having a bit of fun trying to spark interest in a mega rugby fixture. Some wild responses. Big Love. Also needed to satisfy my narcissism."

It has also now been reported that Marler left England camp on Monday, which is before he made the post on X criticising the haka. The Telegraph revealed that he left because of personal reasons, but not because of mental health. They also reported that the RFU and England did not ask Marler to remove his post or delete his account. He did it of his own accord.

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Wales star back in training

Wales winger Regan Grace has returned to training for Bath Rugby.

The 27-year-old has not been capped by Wales at Test level, but he earned an appearance against Queensland Reds during the summer tour of Australia.

The former ruugby league star underwent surgery on a hamstring injury and has been in rehabilitation since August, with is expected to return in winter.

Posting to Instagram, Grace included the caption: 'Getting back to it' along with a selection of photos in Bath gear at The Rec. He's also switched up his hairstyle, going for braids on his return to the training paddock.

It has been an injury-plagued few years for Grace, who left French club Racing 92 without having kicked a ball in anger due to a ruptured Achilles.

If Grace, Keelan Giles, Josh Adams, Rio Dyer, Tom Rogers, Blair Murray, Josh Hathaway and Mason Grady are ever all fit at the same time, Warren Gatland will have a serious selection headache out wide.

France release 19 players

France have released 19 players back their clubs ahead of the autumn internationals.

Unlike the Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship, the Top 14 continues this weekend. With that being the case, a large portion of the Les Bleus group have been deployed with their club sides

France aren't in action in the Test match arena until next weekend. They're hosting Japan at the Stade de France on Saturday, November 9.

Dan Biggar's Toulon teammate Charles Ollivon is one of those being released. He'll be chomping at the bit after his side were trumped 57-5 by Toulouse last weekend.

The full list of released players can be viewed below.

• Théo ATTISSOGBE
• Joshua BRENNAN
• Romain BUROS
• Jonathan DANTY
• Antoine FRISCH
• Marko GAZZOTTI
• Antoine HASTOY
• Anthony JELONCH
• Maxime LAMOTHE
• Mathis LEBEL
• Maxime LUCU
• Yoram MOEFANA
• Régis MONTAGNE
• Lenni NOUCHI
• Charles OLLIVON
• Romain TAOFIFENUA
• Sébastien TAOFIFENUA
• Gabin VILLIÈRE
• Cameron WOKI

England to go up a gear against All Blacks

By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent

Danny Care feels England are “really close” to going up another gear as they prepare for a blockbuster Autumn Nations Series opener against New Zealand on Saturday.

The All Blacks have beaten England eight times from 10 starts since 2012, most recently a 2-0 series triumph in New Zealand this summer.

But England ran them close on both occasions, losing by a combined margin of just eight points, which followed a 33-31 Six Nations defeat against France when Steve Borthwick’s team produced some thrilling rugby.

“I am fascinated to see how this game goes. When New Zealand come to town, there is just a different feel,” TNT Sports pundit Care told the PA news agency.

“I feel England are really close. That missing ingredient is the toughest one, and it is so hard to put your finger on what it is.

“It’s probably being a bit more ruthless – when you have got momentum, when you have got teams by the scruff of the throat… to really press home that advantage. You have to be clinical against the world’s best teams.

“If you look at the South Africa World Cup semi-final (in 2023), if we had been a little bit more clinical we could have put that game out of sight. If you give the best teams in the world a sniff – the best teams in the world are that for a reason – they come back and find a way to win.

“It is about winning those tight games, and there is no better time to do it than this weekend. There is something in the air when New Zealand come to town, and you know you have to be on top form.”