Amazulu

I was referring to the fact that the Irish fans sang one of their rebel songs, drowning out the haka. This drew the ire of the ABs and the IRB as it was showing disrespect to the haka - which is not allowed. Some of the AB players took it personally apparently. Pathetic I know but there it is

Your link was indeed superb

BEVS

Correct. It isn't. It is a war chant.
At least they've stopped with the slice the throat death job.

BEVS

Oh well.

It was the usual Irish sports anthem. Fields of Athenry. It is a ballad .

One of the irritations is the insistance that the haka is done after the anthems. It has been suggested in the past that if they want their haka they do it before the anthems .

BEVS

Yes.

,
Yes.

To be clear . My view is that if the pacific nations wish to haka per their culture then that is fine if both teams are happy with that.
The ABs mis-use the Maori culture for their own ends IMO. I am not OK with that. Especially given that many Maori state that bi-cultural interactions and displays - as per the ABs haka - is destructive and disrespectful of their culture. Make their minds up !

If the ABs can use the haka, then surely our national Air NZ airline can use Kia Ora.

This is very different from a haka of respect which is done at funerals etc. The intention is not respect. The intention is fear.

Retirednow

Not in Australia it doesn’t. Of four football codes it’s a very distant last. There’s a reason for that...

Amazulu

BadgeIsBack

Bloody hell. All 3 southern hemisphere teams could be bundled out back to back...

DeadVim

All Backs?

Can’t see Wales beating SA on form but anything can happen in a tournament.

Time to mention choking?

Kim67

I can't either but I thought NZ would beat the poms last night too. The All Blacks just couldn't believe what was happening to them. Eddie Jones needs to come home now and with his magic on The Wallabies.

Beoz

No thanks. Eddie Jones has a history of doing wonders then completely messing up. If England are lucky enough to get him on a hot run, then cut him loose straight after the final, win or lose.

Amazulu

Glad the Bokke won but it was a dire game - but than again, in a semi-final it's about winning, not how you win. The Bokke did enough and at the end were, in reality, in control of the match

I think the Bokke haven't shown all of their cards yet and have something up their sleeve for the final. England do look formidable though - they tore the ABs a new one. Love the way they 'disrespected' the haka too. We really need more of that

BEVS

Himself & old rugby playing cohorts from our mother land called it a game of tennis which just wasn't cricket. Still one of them wanted to win without giving anything away so I suppose it was going to be that type of game in a way.

Yep. SA will definitely be looking to their game plan against England & England will be looking to the SA might.

The silent V for Victory challenge was quite fine I thought. A symbolic and meaningful challenge in return, that those doing the haka should also have felt was a meaningful acknowledgement of the war dance. Where is it written that another people must stand in a straight line against a war chant.

I think an understanding of a haka and its various meanings and uses should be revived before it all fades away into a meaningless dance that must be respected on death of penalty by the mighty fine.

An old article.

calman014

The Haka is one of the great traditions of the All Blacks team during their competitions. Whatever its origins, it should be respected for what it is and allowed to continue.

I have used it successfully on several occasions to assess the mood of the team before a match and I have to say that I was pretty surprised to be correct this time around when they played England.

Despite the "V" formation, which was quite clever, there was a low level of enthusiasm in the NZ team right from the start and visible from the vigour in the Haka that was missing this time around.

All the same, some great play in all the competitions, especially from Japan.

mikelincs

The fine they were given wasn't for disrespection the haka, it was for one or two of the English players having crossed the halfway line

spouse of scouse

Yep.