England fined for haka response, yet New Zealand fine with it

The England players encroached on New Zealand's pre-match haka in a few moments of tension that indisputably heightened the drama of the Rugby World Cup semifinals.

The All Blacks were fine with it, their coach describing England's response as "fantastic" and "brilliant." The England team was fined for it, ostensibly for crossing the line.

World Rugby confirmed the fine Wednesday, five days after a half-dozen England players crossed the halfway line in its response to the All Blacks' traditional pre-match challenge.

The fine, reported to be 2,500 pounds ($3,200), was imposed after the sport's governing body deemed England had breached "tournament rules relating to cultural challenges, which states that no players from the team receiving the challenge may advance beyond the halfway line."

England's players stood in a Vformation with players in two lines angling out in a direction that would flank the haka. The French were fined in 2011 for advancing team was unceremoniously bundled out in the pool stage. The All Blacks were the first back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners.

Hansen used his team selection Wednesday to highlight how champion teams recover from being, in his words, rocked. With that in mind, he picked a combination to take on Wales that was balanced between giving deserving toward the haka, arms linked in a line across the field, before the final which France lost. Critics at the time described that fine as pedantic.

There's been plenty of derision over the penalty this time for an event which tournament organizers used to promote the contest — a video on the official Twitter feed had 1.2 million views by Wednesday morning.

Former England captain Will Carling was among the critics of the sanction, saying New Zealand had the right to perform the haka but authorities had no right to dictate how opponents or the crowd responded to it. The previous week, in the quarterfinals, Irish fans in the crowd sang loudly while the All Blacks were doing their pre-match haka against Ireland.

"It is a challenge," Carling tweeted, "so teams and opposition fans can react as they wish."

The episode lit up social media, with the video on the official feed closing with the comments: "You want box office? You've got it. How about the challenge from veterans Kieran Read, Ben Smith and Sonny Bill Williams a send-off in the All Blacks jersey, while also utilizing some of the backup players and ensuring it was a lineup that could win.

The All Blacks haven't lost consecutive tests since August 2011, two months before winning the World Cup.

Wales coach Warren Gatland is

England v New Zealand?"

Steve Hansen, who will be quitting as All Blacks head coach after Friday's bronze-medal playoff against Wales, had to walk a fine line with his reaction to the fine, but couldn't see any issues with England's actions. England players said the idea to respond to the haka had come from their Australian coach, Eddie Jones. desperate to end the drought against the All Blacks before he goes back to live in New Zealand. He guided the Welsh to a Six Nations Grand Slam this year but wasn't able to steer them to a first World Cup semifinal victory. They're now 0-3 in the last four following the 19-16 semifinal loss to South Africa.

"They like to play an arm wrestle.

Hansen said Marler perhaps should have gone back when "he got told two or three times."

But "I thought the response was brilliant," Hansen said. "If you understand the haka, the haka requires a response. Quite imaginative, too."

All Blacks captain Kieran Read said immediately after England's 19-7 semifinal win that the response to the haka had no bearing on the result.

If there was an impact, though, it was all in England's favor. The English scored a try in the second minute and were never behind on the scoreboard against the twotime defending champions.

It ended England's run of six consecutive losses against the All Blacks and secured a spot in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against South Africa.