A New Zealand Maori leader has backed controversial comments from South Africa coach Peter de Villiers that the haka is “overused,” saying the traditional war dance has been “hijacked by rugby people.”
Peter Love, trustee of an organization which administers Maori reserves, told Fairfax media that Maori culture was being “abused” and was especially unhappy with a wave of haka “flash mobs” surrounding the World Cup.
“I’m concerned our [Maori] culture is being abused by the overuse and inappropriateness of the haka when it is performed outside special occasions,” Love said yesterday.
“The haka in our culture is something which is regarded as special and should not be bastardized by sport. Peter de Villiers is dead right when he says it is losing its respect,” he said.
Love, whose uncle is a former New Zealand Maori Rugby Board chairman, added that haka flash mobs, including more than a dozen in recent weeks, with one in Barcelona and another at the Sydney Opera House, were misguided.
“The haka is a challenge, not something which is performed as an expression of delight,” he said. “Who told those people they could do that? The haka is an orchestrated representation of our culture when it is used in an appropriate place, but it is being abused.”
De Villiers courted controversy when he said the face-pulling, foot-stamping dance and chant performed before rugby games by New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa to intimidate opponents was becoming over-exposed.
“For me, about the World Cup especially, there is too many haka around,” de Villiers told the Dominion Post newspaper. “It is unique, to me, and is losing its intensity, but that is only me. People are becoming so used to it. It is not a novelty any more and they don’t respect it.”
De Villiers’ comments prompted an immediate response from the All Blacks, with center Ma’a Nonu saying: “It’s part of our history, our tradition. We’re proud of it. I don’t really care what he thinks.”
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
UNDERDOG STORY: Lee said that he did not expect to do this well, overcoming French favorite Alex Lanier to advance to his first BWF World Tour Super 1000 final Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao on Saturday continued his fairytale run at the All England Open, dispatching France’s Alex Lanier to set up a final against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China after press time last night. Lee, staged a comeback after losing the first game to overcome in-form Lanier, the last remaining European in the competition, 19-21 21-14 21-17, as the Taiwanese shuttler advanced to his first BWF World Tour Super 1000 final. “The victory hasn’t sunk in yet. I didn’t expect that I would do this well,” the world No. 22 said. “I’m so surprised by the result myself.” “I was really
RSS