Former Irish striker Neil Francis has been sacked by the Independent for making unacceptable comments about the Lions and Harlequins opener Marcus Smith.

Speaking on the left wing podcast of the Irish publication, Francis Ireland International made a reference to Smith, who was born in Manila and is of British and Filipino descent.

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Comments about Smith provoked the Lions and Harlequin

Francis, who won 36 caps for Ireland from 1987 to 1996, said: “Half of the Harlequins with the David Beckham haircut and the Ompa Lumpa tan could not pull it off.

Although her comment was removed from the podcast, the original quotes and audio were widely shared on social media.

A spokesman for MediaHuges Ireland, the publisher of The Independent.E, said: “Neil Francis’ remarks are not acceptable and he apologizes for that. The comments were originally posted on the podcast last week, but were later deleted by our production team. This must have happened before it was released and we apologize for the error.

“We understand that Francis says his comments were not intentional, but we decided to end our relationship with him. He will no longer write columns or contribute to our podcasts.”

Francis was punished for “insulting” remarks

Quinn said in an earlier statement: “The Harlequins hate The Left Wing, the rugby podcast of the Independent e columnist Neil Francis, about Harlequins, England and the UK. British and Irish Lions opener Marcus Smith July 14.

The club firmly believes that there is no place for racism in any part of society other than professional sports.

Former Queens star Ugo Moni, former Lions and England batsman hit back at Francis on social media.

“It’s scary what Neil Francis said, but it’s scary that no one is challenging him to post this,” Moni tweeted.