I really do not think anyone was going overboard, apart from you John with your sour grapes. You really come across as a miserable, whinging git who loves to stir up ill feeling with claims of a harmless celebration being called OTT and hysterical.

If celebrating a great victory with pride is un-English it shows why England seems to strive not to win anything. No doubt if your team had won you’d still find a way to whinge and moan about it. Still, whinging and moaning is certainly not un-English, it’s one of the most recognised nationall traits.

In all seriousness, the haka is a battle chant that is centuries old and has been used in tribale conflicts, and then against the British, and more recently it was used with great affect in the Second World War by the Maori Battalion, and other New Zealand units, as they went into battle. Germans who were captured in such attacks admitted it frightened the living scheisse out of them. I have talked with Maori Battalion members and white soldiers who were in these attacks and they all say the haka was an amazing weapon and booster to them as they charged enemy positions. I therefore have a lot of respect for it. It is not just folk music.

No, definately the haka, no second k.

The haka is part of our culture and we have grown up with it and learned to respect it. Just like England has the Morris Dance.

Or, just turn your back on them and continue warming up, passing the ball around etc.

That doesn’t work, the Wallabies tried it some years ago. They walked off down to their end of the pitch and continued to warm up. It got up the ire of the New Zealanders even more and by half time the score was, I believe, 36-0 to NZ. The Wallabies have never been so disrespectful since.

I think foreign teams should feel privileged to stand and watch the haka, it means they have finally made the big time in their sport.

“Post match euphoria”? Blimey ! I’ll have some of that euph stuff anyday.

Hmmm, no, you won’t if you continue to support England. You’ll just continue to wallow in bitter defeat, like you are now.

No one objects to a bit of understandable triumphalism – but, I think that your original contribution was, as I described, OTT.

I have read nuuumannn’s original post and thought it was very measured and a good summary of the game. It was also very complimentary towards the losing team for raising there gameplay. Where was it over the top?

Not only does it seem you watched a different game, but you perhaps have read a different post too?

Since my earlier 2007 post where I said I had met Des Scott, Bob Spurdle and Colin Gray and had interviewed Hawkeye Wells, I have had the pleasure and privilege of also meeting the following New Zealand aces:
The late Geoff Fisken
The late Jim Sheddan
Harvey Sweetman – on two occasions
Owen Hardy – on two occasions
Alan Peart – on several occasions
Jack Stafford

The only other ace I can think of that I had ‘contact’ with was the late great Johnny Checketts. When I was based at RNZAF Station Wigram in the early 1990’s he used to work there as a volunteer at the RNZAF Museum workshops. One day a friend and I were walking along the base road heading towards a parade, all dressed up in our SD’s. we spotted an officer coming the other way and just in front of him was an old gent who I recognised as Johnny as I’d seen him on TV and in books. As we approached my mate and I braced up and swung up a salute for the officer behind Johnny. Johnny’s face lit up, he braced up and he saluted us back! The young officer looked puzzled and so did my mate. As we went past my mate said, “What was that silly old coot doing?” I said, “That wasn’t a silly old coot, that was Wing Commander Johnny Checketts, fighter ace! Weren’t you saluting him? I was.” I think if the officer hadn’t been there and I hadn’t been on the way to a parade I’d probably have stopped Mr Checketts and had a chat, as he was a hero of mine. I wish now that I had, I never got to meet him properly.