Writing in The Telegraph, Alan Tyers says chapeaux off to the French, £2,500 poorer in IRB fines though they may be.
"Faced with a group of large, angry men shouting and suggesting that they’re going to rip your head off, most people would shuffle not forwards, but back. Not so Les Bleus. Advancing towards the opponent might have been anathema to previous generations of French warriors but fortunately, no matter what those Kiwis might chant, sport is only a metaphorical battleground these days.
"The ideal French response might have involved close-formation shrugging, smoking in a pointed manner, farting in the Kiwis’ general direction or perhaps setting fire to a sheep and laying it on the 10-metre line, but the ridiculous namby-pambyisation of modern rugby forbids such incendiary techniques.
"Instead, the French had to content themselves with a restrained, if resolute, show of defiance. As a result, the IRB fined them. Vigorous, violent and more than capable of looking after itself, the haka enjoys unwarranted protection, like a municipal car park that has been declared a listed building, with rugby administrators treading carefully around it for fear of upsetting.... well, who exactly? It seems a bit much to plead sensitivity while singing songs of conquest and dark deeds. Nor are the New Zealand team or fans doing so: it is the feelings of unknown, probably non-existent, victims that are being defended from hurt."
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