Joe Marler should not return to diplomacy. Hardly used to beating around the bush, the left prop of the XV de la Rose (95 caps) lit a match at the start of his autumn tour and, a few weeks later, the fire was far from extinguished. . “You have to take off the haka, it’s ridiculous”harshly criticized the player, who has since announced his international retirement, on X (ex-Twitter) ahead of the England-New Zealand clash on November 2. If he has since backed down, he has insisted on “the context” After his tirade, he apologized and clarified his comments, the English fantasist provoked a unanimous protest in the country of the long white cloud. From former players to New Zealand sports minister David Seymour, all have vigorously defended the haka.
On Saturday, November 16, the fifteen All Blacks players will perform the country’s traditional cultural ritual, which combines defiance and dance (“haka” means “dance”), a few minutes before facing Antoine Dupont’s Blues. And all the spectators at the Stade de France are looking forward to it, because, like the oval ball or back passes, the haka is part of rugby. “We have all done a haka in our living room or in our garden when we were young”summarized this week the third line Alexandre Roumat, in Midi-Olympique. Neo-blue since the last Six Nations Tournament, the Toulouse player will discover on Saturday the effect of a haka before starting a match.
Still, Joe Marler’s comments raise a fundamental question: beyond folklore and respect for a centuries-old tradition (the first haka in rugby dates back to 1905), is it normal for a team to be allowed to intimidate its opponent? a few minutes before the shot? -off? Especially since opposing players have no right to respond in rugby.
Because it is impossible to dissociate these “cultural challenges” – the official term used by the international rugby federation – from their warlike aspect. the haka “He is not made to be loved, he is made to make his adversaries tremble.”defended the Maori cultural advisor Mana Epiha, in the New Zealand media Stuff after Joe Marler’s comments. It is something that highlights the beautiful feelings of the warrior spirit of our ancestors. »
The risk of becoming “a simple one-sided spectacle”
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