Don't can the haka, say Welsh rugby greats

Noted former Lions rugby players are urging New Zealand not to ditch its haka ahead of the Lions tour, the Wales on Sunday newspaper reports.

The newspaper said that Welsh rugby fans hoping to see the All Blacks' "legendary war dance" in June could be left disappointed.

It reported that a New Zealand newspaper columnist, Frank Haden, had called on the Government to ban the haka, claiming it was linked to crime and anti-social behaviour.

In his weekly newspaper column in the Sunday Star Times Haden said the Government should "lean on the rugby union to grow up".

Defending his views, he said: "Off the footie field, Kiwis are notoriously hard to stir up and be motivated to do something en masse. But somebody has to say it, the haka is well past its use-by date."

But former Lions player Mervyn Davies disagrees, saying the loss of the haka would be a travesty.

"I think that's the most stupid comment I've heard in many a moon," he said. "The haka is part of a tradition, part of a tradition of New Zealand rugby and also the surrounding islands. Yes, it is intimidating to the opposition, but from a personal point of view it was a way of switching myself on and focusing on the game ahead."

And Wales and Lions great Barry John said: "The haka has been part and parcel of the All Black team for as long as I can remember. It's not menacing and players who face it either face up to it or just don't look. It would be sad if it went."

The Welsh newspaper said Haden's claims followed a New Zealand television documentary which sparked national debate by linking the haka to Maori male aggression and the crime rate.

The programme claimed that Maori were statistically responsible for more crime than the rest of the largely white, but increasingly multi-cultural, population of four million.

It said that Haden's views were echoed by senior Turkish public servants who called for a ban on the haka when 170 New Zealanders, including a Maori cultural group, visited Turkey to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Anzac Gallipoli landings.

They claimed one of the haka's arm movements "offended" their culture.

- NZPA