Rugby Union: Haka Snub Fired Up All Blacks

Wales will raise the issue of the timing of New Zealand's haka with the International Board after the All Blacks refused to perform the war chant on the pitch in Cardiff after a row over its scheduling.

Wales wanted to repeat the sequence of events in last year's fixture when New Zealand performed the haka and the Welsh national anthem was then played, as had happened when the sides first met 100 years earlier, but the All Black players insisted it had been a one-off concession.

The IRB said yesterday that the protocol for next year's World Cup had already been established. "The countries that traditionally perform a haka - Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand - will be allowed to do so after the anthems," said its communications manager, Greg Thomas. "If Wales want to raise the subject with the Rugby World Cup board they are free to do so, but what happens in a friendly is up to the two countries involved."

The All Blacks performed the haka in the tunnel before running out on to the pitch and were booed when they did not line up for the chant before the kick-off. "That fired us up," said their full-back, Mils Muliaina. "We were already disappointed that we were not allowed to do the haka after the anthems and it gave us extra motivation."

The WRU group chief executive, Roger Lewis, said New Zealand had been told last month what the order of events would be. "We took advice surrounding the haka from experts and they said it should be challenged. We wanted to do that with our anthem. It was not a childish action."

The move backfired on Wales, who were a try down after four minutes. "We wanted a yardstick and we got one," said their head coach, Gareth Jenkins. "The New Zealand franchises have been employing judo coaches for two years to help them get rid of bodies at the breakdown and we've gone down that road, but we're playing catch-up. European rugby has been given a lesson and we have nine months to work out a response."

NZ take a break

Whereas the England squad will be lucky to get four weeks off next summer before the World Cup, New Zealand's top 22 will not play for the next four months. Their head coach, Graham Henry, will give them two months' rest before starting them on a conditioning programme. "The players will be much better athletes because of it and they will be refreshed as well," he said. "It is essential that they get away from the rugby scene for a while and relax. The last thing you want is for them to be stale and our policy has been to change the way we did things before previous World Cups." England's season will finish in mid-May, followed by a tour to South Africa and World Cup warm-ups in August.