Rugby: All Blacks' haka burned into memory of Canadian prop

Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk has said facing up to the All Blacks' haka at the recent World Cup left him more pumped up than any other time in his life.

The Oxford student told of the experience while being interviewed before playing for his university against Cambridge at Twickenham today.

"I was not scared by the haka, in fact I was incredibly fired up, more fired up than I have ever been in my life. They say they do it for themselves, but I cannot see anyone facing it and not getting enthused. That fired me up more than any other thing I have ever encountered in my life."

While many question the worth of the many one-sided romps played between rugby's major powers and minnows at the World Cup, Tkachuk said the Canada's match against the All Blacks was undoubtly the highlight of his tournament.

"I was not disappointed with Canada's World Cup in the end, as the tournament went on we improved and the game against New Zealand was incredible. I can't tell you how exciting that was."

However, he would like to see the lesser countries be given more help by the authorities. "We need more matches, but it is not simply a question of more games. In the past we have had tournaments, where you get together for five days, play a test match then go away for another two weeks, before repeating the cycle. That is taking two steps forward and one back. What we need is commitment to the next World Cup, from the IRB [International Rugby Board] and RWC [Rugby World Cup], and that means more money so that we can run proper training camps and get the team together on a proper basis."


- INDEPENDENT