FURIOUS rugby fans called for Joe Marler to face sex assault charges after he grabbed Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones’ testicles.
The England ace faces a minimum 12-week ban for the shocking Vinnie Jones-style manhood grab in the weekend’s Six Nations clash.
But some said this doesn’t go far enough, with many on social media demanding he face criminal charges for a “sex attack”.
One person tweeted: “How are people finding this funny? This is sexual assault.
“Imagine if a man did this to a woman. People would not be laughing about it. He should be charged.”
Another wrote: “Mad that if Joe Marler was just an ordinary person with an ordinary career he’d have been facing a sexual assault charge soon.”
A third said: “Will Joe Marler be charged with sexual assault for this and, if so, will he be added to the sex offenders’ register?
“To hell with the citing commissioner, where are the metropolitan police on this?”
And one posted: “A sexual assault to get under your opponents’ skin is not a ‘a bit of banter’.
“AWJ clearly was not a willing participant of this joke. Grabbing someone’s genitals uninvited is never okay.”
Welsh skipper Jones demanded World Rugby take retrospective action against prop Marler.
He said: “If I react I get a red card. Hopefully World Rugby have a look at it.
“Joe is a good bloke. . . but there is all the footage that has been shown and a lot of supporters have seen what has happened.
“I looked across at the touch judge and he obviously didn’t see anything. But we talk a lot about TMOs and what they review, so it was frustrating this wasn’t dealt with there.”
World Rugby’s Law 10 states that anyone found guilty of “testicle grabbing, twisting or squeezing” faces a minimum 12-week suspension, while the maximum penalty is a FOUR-YEAR ban.
But ex-Wales and Lions centre Gareth Thomas, who came out as gay in 2009, joked: “It would never have happened in my day and I’m really upset about that – because if it had I would have never retired!”
England centre Manu Tuilagi also faces a six-week ban for his dangerous head-high tackle on winger George North which earned him a late red card and reduced England to 13 men for the last five minutes following Ellis Genge’s yellow.
But after England survived to late converted tries for a deserved 33-30 Triple Crown triumph, Jones blasted O’Keefe.
