All Blacks love haka response

Dane Coles has a simple message for those who don’t approve of the All Blacks’ haka. ‘‘Then don’t watch it because it ain’t going anywhere,’’ he says.

Both Coles, who will play his 69th test tomorrow when he runs out at starting hooker for the All Blacks’ bronze medal World Cup playoff against Wales, and head coach Steve Hansen commented on the fact England were fined by World Rugby for encroaching over halfway in their V-shaped response to the haka last Saturday.

Both took time at yesterday’s team naming press conference to applaud the England response in accepting the challenge before last weekend’s semifinal and walking towards it, though Hansen, conscious of not picking up a fine himself, said he understood why they had been hit in the pocket for their actions.

‘‘You’re taking me to dangerous territory here . . . I’m worried about getting fined,’’ said the head coach in response to a question from Stuff about England’s fine.

‘‘Their response was fantastic. They didn’t get fined for doing what they did, they got fined because they went over halfway. It’s not about responding to the haka, so you get fined, it’s actually I think Joe [Marler] didn’t go back when he got told two or three times.

‘‘I thought the response was brilliant . . . quite imaginative too. If you understand the haka, it requires a response. It’s a challenge to you personally.’’

Coles concurred, though he wasn’t so sure that the unspecified fine was going to have much of an impact on the recipients’ pockets.

‘‘That’s what the haka is about – a challenge – and they walked forward. I know all the boys were pretty pumped. We were all looking round, like ‘let’s go’. We didn’t think it was bad. We thought it was awesome.’’

‘‘They earn a s...load of money, so they can pay the fine. They’re a pretty wealthy union, so I’d take the hit.’’

Coles said he would encourage other teams to fashion similar responses ‘‘if they’re willing to pay the fine’’ but denied that it gave England the ‘‘edge’’ they needed to take into the match.

‘‘That’s probably easy to say because of the way the game panned out. But not necessarily. We give the haka everything we’ve got and then we come in and it’s gone. We take a moment to get our breath back and get everyone back on task.

‘‘No-one is going to win a game because they walked forward or how powerful the haka was. It’s about what happens on that rugby pitch for 80 minutes. I don’t think it gave them an edge, but hindsight is a beautiful thing.’’

But Coles did have a clear message for opponents of the haka, including in his own country, who want rid of it.

‘‘When people pay us out and say we shouldn’t be doing it, they don’t understand the history of the haka, the history of the All Blacks and the history of New Zealand.

‘‘We love doing it and I wish people would understand that, even people at home who give us stick about the haka. We can’t control what people think and say, but it ain’t going anywhere. If you don’t like it don’t watch it.

‘‘It’s part of an All Black’s identity and New Zealand culture. We love doing it to represent New Zealand and our people. It means a hell of a lot to any All Blacks team.’’