Culture clash over haka continues

The haka fails to impress. Ross Land / Getty Images

The All Blacks will return to New Zealand having learned two valuable lessons - that the standard of rugby in these parts isn't so very flash and that tolerance for the haka is waning.

It's even possible the two are linked. Maybe if the home unions spent more time honing their basic skills and less time fretting about the haka, an All Black Grand Slam wouldn't be so likely.

But that's wishful thinking. If anything, the obsession with finding ways to negate the influence of the haka will intensify after events in Cardiff last weekend, where the Welsh managed to squeeze it between the two anthems.

The home unions have never been at ease with the haka. It offends their sensibilities about fair play. If the All Blacks are allowed to gain a psychological edge through a cultural display, then why not everyone else?

Allowing the Scots to terrify with a Highland fling, or the English to reply with a Morris dance would balance things. As ridiculous as it sounds, it seems we are heading that way.

The English will blast out their adopted Swing Low, Sweet Chariot anthem this week, while the Scots will no doubt sing Flower of Scotland at top volume.

Maybe we'll even see an opposing team emulate the Ireland side of 1989, that linked arms and marched towards the haka, only stopping when the bulging eyeballs of skipper Willie Anderson made contact with Buck Shelford.

It remains one of sport's greatest moments. The drama was compelling and 16 years on Anderson is still convinced it was a stroke of genius.

"I had been talking to our coach Jimmy Davidson about how we could get the crowd applauding us and not the All Blacks," recalled Anderson. "We wanted to psychologically turn the tables.

"We decided to link arms and march forward. We wanted to give the haka the respect it deserves and pick up the challenge. It had the desired effect because the crowd went ballistic and it was a brilliant atmosphere. I always say that we won the dance but lost the game."

It would be a concern for Anderson if New Zealanders were to accuse him of adopting a deliberately disrespectful policy. Anderson is of the view that the haka is one of rugby's treasured institutions.

If it caused offence, none of the All Blacks said so. "I spoke to Buck Shelford after the game," said Anderson. "His view was that they threw the gauntlet down and we picked it up. I have nothing but respect for the haka and it is a major rugby tradition. I don't think anyone would want to see it lost from the game."

There is a contradiction facing Northern Hemisphere rugby. They want to reduce the impact of the haka yet they definitely don't want it lost to the sport.

It's a fine line, though. Last week in Cardiff, the All Blacks had threatened not to perform the haka when the Welsh wanted it performed between the anthems.

The Welsh Rugby Union wanted to recreate the order of events that took place in 1905. But all that 1905 stuff seemed like a handy excuse. The Welsh were missing six of their British Lions. Their provincial sides have been struggling in the Celtic League and they were facing an All Black side they knew to be capable of giving them a frightful pounding.

They knew that changing the order of events to sandwich the haka in-between the anthems would upset the All Blacks. They knew they would be diluting the psychological impact of the haka by having the last word, as it were.

The philosophy was no different to the one employed by Anderson in 1989 and it is a philosophy that is unlikely to change in the immediate future. The only unknown is in what specific form these disruptive ploys will be enacted.

Anderson said: "How a side reacts to the haka is up to them. I have to say I was quite surprised at the way the Lions lined up to face the haka. The person back inside the 22 must have wondered what was going on. He might as well have been sat in the stands.

"It is intimidating facing it and we decided that we were not going to be intimidated. I can remember that, the week before our test, the All Blacks had played Newport. The Newport players had stayed down by their own line and Shelford took the All Blacks down there and made them acknowledge the haka. We knew we didn't want that."

And in many ways that is the problem for the All Blacks - when it comes to the haka, the Brits really don't know what they want.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY