Come To Tea, Come To Tea...

Well. That's what I always sing along to when the ubiquitous 'Haka' rears its inevitable head. With all due respect to heritage and tradition of those concerned, once again last night there was the "Oooooh, Aaaah!" as the New Zealand team slapped, preened and shuffled forwards in a pseudo confrontational manner - as much for the telly as anything else. I cannot believe that the players are 100% convinced as to the merits of what happened. Sure - have a haka - make it a statement of intent that both focuses the team 'performing' and, yes - it demands respect from the opposition at all times but stop there. Look at Tonga, Samoa, Fiji - all capable of announcing their particular intentions - vocal and challenging but without the 'cinema'. Boys, the haka has 'Jumped the shark' I'm afraid.
Besides, historical footage of hakas over the years gives evidence that it has developed from the original 'statement of intent' to a full-on 'marketing tool'. Or is it just me? Is it something that should only be performed by team members of Maori  origin, or  can anyone 'join in' if they are good enough to play rugby? It all seems a bit strange, that's all.

Try it for yourselves! Oh - and please get the microphones off the pitch New Zealand broadcasting and others - let the guys challenge the opposition, not the audio engineer and the stadium reverberation specialist. Anyway, better luck next time eh? Well played.

Comments

[Emilie-Italy]

Do you have a video of last nights Haka?

As previously mentioned, I personally thought it was fantastic...