Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Drown out ‘sterile’ Haka, coach Cockerill tells fans
RICHARD Cockerill has urged Twickenham to drown out the Haka when England collide with New Zealand this evening.
Cockerill famously confronted All Blacks hooker Norm Hewitt during the Maori war dance in 1997, and England’s forwards coach believes teams are too deferential towards a ritual he thinks has become “sterile”.
When the rivals last met in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, Eddie Jones’ men responded with a V-shape formation that had captain Owen Farrell at the apex – and Cockerill would relish seeing similar theatrics today.
“It’s a home game and we want a partisan crowd who are on our side,” the former Leicester hooker said. “If the fans can drown out the noise of the Haka then let’s bring it on.
“Is it a challenge or not? We’ll respect it how we want to respect it. It’s a psychological advantage for them and we will deal with it.
“I have no regrets over what I did and I think it’s a sign of respect for the Maori culture. It’s great theatre and it will be part of a big day.
“I think the Haka has become a little bit sterile and too much is made of it when people do different things towards it. That’s overplayed.
“New Zealand are allowed to do what they want to do and the opposition should be allowed to do what they want to do.”
England: ■ Gloucester Rugby and Bristol Bears have both named sides full of youngsters for their Premiership Rugby Cup clash at Kingsholm this afternoon.
The Cherry & Whites have a few more familiar names in their lineup, with Italy international Jake Polledri in the side at number eight. Former Worcester men Seb Atkinson and Alex Hearle also feature.
Dan Thomas skippers the Bears against his old club, with scrum-half Tom Whiteley playing at ten.
Gloucester Rugby: J Hathaway; A Hearle, T Seabrook, S Atkinson, J Morris; G Barton (capt), M Jones; A Seville, H Walker, C Knight, A Davidson, F Thomas, J Clement, R Nixon, J Polledri. Replacements: S Blake, A McArthur, B O’Connor, D Eite, J Bartlett, T Miles, M Adderley-Jones, A Morgan.
Bristol Bears: N Heward; S Hamid, H Ascherl,
J Williams, H Rowson; T Whiteley, O Lennon; A Benz-Salomon, J Kerr, G Kloska, C Rice, J Owen, A Tull, D Thomas (capt), E Harvey. Replacements: F Davies, T Sims, J Tyack, A Thomas, M Duncan, P Carter, J Lloyd, F Owsley. ■ Joe Cokanasiga, who was listed as injured by England, ruling him out of the game against the All Blacks, has been named on the bench for Bath for their game against the Barbarians tomorrow afternoon.
Full-back Tom de Glanville is also involved again after returning from a hamstring injury, while Josh Bayliss has been released from the Scotland squad to feature.
Joining Cokanasiga on the bench are former Worcester stars Ted Hill and Ollie Lawrence, while Jonathan Joseph and Max Ojomoh combine in a powerful-looking partnership in the centres.
Bath Rugby: T de Glanville, W Butt, J Joseph, M Ojomoh, M Gallagher; O Bailey, M Green; A Cordwell, T Dunn, D Rae, F Lee-Warner, T Ellis, J Bayliss, M Reid, R de Carpentier. Replacements: N Annett, V Morozov, J Jonker, Q Roux, T Hill, T Carr-Smith, O Lawrence, J Cokanasiga.