GORDON LIGHTFOOT | Sport
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Impeccably timed as always, an English person has made a big deal about the haka right before an England vs All Blacks test match.
This time it was England prop Joe Marler who reportedly called the haka “ridiculous” and that it “needs binning”. Normally such opinions are reserved for English rugby “scribes”, who insist on being called “scribes” in order to sound more cultured than “opinion writers”.
Naturally this is the kind of talking point we have come to expect from rugby journalism. Now however it pales in comparison with the ongoing feud between the Irish team and Rieko Iaone, who has apparently been taking lessons in dramatics from the WWE.
Nevertheless the haka debate is back on the table. In classic New Zealand fashion, the spin is that Marler has “disrespected” it, and so as a country we must collectively have a massive cry about it. This is even though every self-respecting All Black knows to use any perceived wrongdoing as fuel to play harder.
Marler said that the haka is “only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week,” which is arguably correct. From a fan perspective, this version of the haka is more entertaining to watch, and gives commentators something different to talk about. No doubt Grant Nisbett is bored with his preloaded “full of emotion” line.
Despite all this, nothing will change. Marler has carried out his duty of saying something about the haka before a game, which will result in it continuing on as usual. People generally like the All Blacks haka because it’s something different and it’s something unique to international rugby.
Marler would not comment on whether he would do some kind of thing while the All Blacks do the haka in order to prove some kind of point.
More to come.
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