Shelford hits back at Irish writer’s call to ditch haka
Rugby great says foreigners don’t fully appreciate what the challenge means to Kiwis
Kiwi rugby icon and the man credited with revitalising the All Blacks’ haka, Buck Shelford, has hit back at an Irish writer’s call for the challenge to be stopped at the World Cup.
In a column for sports website Pundit Arena, agent provocateur Ewan MacKenna asked why the World Cup was still “pandering to the dance”, calling it “unfortunate as New Zealand are justifiably big-headed enough without a massaging of their already massive egos”.
MacKenna claimed the haka gives the All Blacks a “psychological edge through self-inspiration and via an attempt at opponent intimidation”, and said it also “provides a small physical edge as others are forced to stand still and go briefly cold”.
“Even World Rugby have it in their rules that to not stand on your own 10-metre line and watch a bunch stick out their tongues and slap their thighs is worthy of a fine and a telling off.
“Perhaps Ireland’s opponents should have to [watch] our players sitting around a table in midfield, sipping cups of tea and bemoaning everything from economic migrants to the latest bin charges.”
After a social media backlash yesterday, MacKenna doubled down on his comments, claiming to have “enraged the idiocy of New Zealand”.
Former All Blacks captain and Herald columnist Shelford said MacKenna’s comments were ignorant.
“He’s just another writer who thinks that the haka is about getting a psychological advantage over the opposition. Well, mate, get a life.
“If that is all you can get out of 80 minutes of rugby, you don’t deserve to be writing about our great game.”
According to Shelford, foreigners — and even opposition players — often don’t fully appreciate what the haka means to Kiwis.
“I was recently involved in a documentary with the World Cup-winning Australian captain John Eales, whose coach told him [in 1996] to turn his back on the haka and go back down the field and practise his passing.
“John was haunted by his actions for years after that and he came to New Zealand to see for himself how and why the haka is so important to us,” Shelford said.
“He now understands it is not just about the rugby. It’s what Ma¯oridom means to our small country at the bottom of the Pacific.”
Last year respected British journalist Peter Bills reignited debate over the role the haka played for the All Blacks in his book The Jersey.
Interviews with ex-All Blacks Sir Colin Meads and Kees Meeuws revealed frustrations about the heavy use of the haka, and the team’s mental skills coach, Gilbert Enoka, revealed some All Blacks had felt “haka-ed out”.
“The haka is about our mana to go into battle [and] total respect for the opposition,” said Shelford.
“I have never heard any nation say anything about Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga’s challenges. Could it be because those teams don’t normally win [in], say, the UK and Europe?”