The Blues perform a haka during the Blues vs British and Irish Lions match played at Eden Park in Auckland. Photo / Peter Meecham
The Blues perform a haka during the Blues vs British and Irish Lions match played at Eden Park in Auckland. Photo / Peter Meecham
Former All Blacks captain Buck Shelford has dismissed criticism of the Blues haka, saying those opposed to it are "just too sensitive".
The Blues performed He Toa Takitini (The Strength of Many) for the first time ever before their stunning 22-16 victory over the British and Irish Lions on Wednesday. Disapproval of the haka was led by Telegraph sportswriter James Corrigan, who said an alleged "throat-slitting" gesture was ill-timed after recent terrorist attacks in England.
Shelford responded by saying critics of the haka misunderstood the meaning behind it.
"I think that these guys are just too sensitive," he told the Herald.
"I think sometimes you've got to realise it's part of our culture here, especially for our sports teams.
"And with respect to the actions, there's not always negative meanings. If someone would teach them the words of the haka it's not about slitting throats, it means something else."
Shelford is credited with reinvigorating the All Blacks haka when he became captain of the side in 1987.
Former All Blacks captain Buck Shelford. Photo / Geoff Dale
"When you do a haka you're doing it out of respect for your opposition as well, total respect," he said.
"It's about winning and losing obviously, but it's about the challenge, and it's also about the respect for these Lions boys. I think the media are just looking for something to grab onto and talk about."
Writing in the Telegraph, Corrigan said someone in the Blues management "should have spotted the tasteless juxtaposition".
"Holding a minute's silence for the victims of the Manchester bomb and the London knife attacks and then, immediately afterwards, performing a tribal dance which concludes with a collection of throat-slitting gestures in the direction of the British and Irish opposition.
"At the very best it could be described as inappropriate."
The gesture where the bulk of the Blues players drew their thumbs across their throat evoked memories of initial criticism of Kapa o Pango, the All Blacks alternate haka to Ka Mate.
The Blues haka was led by Ihaia West, and was unveiled in tribute to former players Jonah Lomu and Kurtis Haiu.
It was composed by Whiria Meltzer and Ruka Makiha, two friends called upon by Blues coach Tana Umaga to devise a suitable challenge for the much anticipated clash with the Lions.
When the All Blacks' Kapa O Pango was introduced in a test against South Africa in Dunedin in 2005, initial performances drew similar criticism in some quarters for an apparent throat-slitting gesture.
English columnist Mick Cleary criticised the new haka at the time as "unmistakably provocative ... there is a fine line and the All Blacks crossed it. Carisbrook is a rugby field not a back-street alley."
The All Blacks appeared to then tinker with the theatrics around that particular part of the haka. Players still drew their arms horizontally across their bodies, but much lower than the throat.
