The All Blacks perform the haka before their match against England. David Rogers/Getty Images
LONDON - The haka and the Twickenham crowd - two sources of recent controversy - combined to antagonise the All Blacks before today's rugby test here.
Not long after New Zealand's 41-20 defeat of England, All Blacks coach Graham Henry chastised the home supporters for singing their traditional
song of support, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", while his team completed the Ka Mate haka.
"I thought they (spectators) were outstanding really, apart from singing that song during the haka, which I thought was questionable," Henry said.
"If you could remind them next time, that's not the right thing to do."
Henry was asked about the crowd after All Blacks Anton Oliver had called the Twickenham faithful "arrogant and ignorant" during the buildup and second five-eighth Aaron Mauger alleged that elements of last year's crowd racially abused some of his teammates.
All Blacks centre Ma'a Nonu said he didn't notice the singing today as he was "pretty zoned" doing the haka but voiced his disappointment later.
"The haka's been around for a 100 years and it's a shame when we play other teams that they disrespect it like that," he said.
"It's something special to us as players because we get to do it. That's their way of putting us off. It is a shame but it gives us another notch to step up."
When pushed on whether the crowd singled out All Blacks for personal abuse, Nonu said: "There was a bit of that tonight but you can't do anything about that".
He didn't want to elaborate.
Prominent British writer Stephen Jones described the pre-test observations of Oliver and Mauger as "an assault on English sports followers" and "poisonous" in today's Sunday Times.
Jones was among many in the British press last year to criticise the All Blacks' new haka, Kapa O Pango, particularly its throat-slitting ending.
- NZPA
