There are all sorts of ways a team might get ready for a big match against the All Blacks. Fair to say that the tactic of actively going out of your way to pissing them off, which is the one England seem to have gone for this week, comes in a way down the list. Joe Marler’s original tweet that the haka is “ridiculous” and “needs binning” has gone down like cold sick with New Zealanders.
“I’m wondering if he wishes he could have articulated himself a little bit better,” said their head coach, Scott Robertson, on Thursday. “The haka is not just about the All Blacks, it is about New Zealand as a country, it means a lot to us.”
