2015 Rugby World Cup: New Zealand's players not upset with Matt Dawson's 'Hakarena' video

The All-Blacks performing the Haka

The New Zealand’s national rugby team players insist that they are not upset with the 2003 World Cup winner Matt Dawson’s ‘Hakarena’ dance video which pokes fun of the New Zealand’s traditional dance.

“That’s pretty shameful”

Earlier, the top members of New Zealand’s major political party had hit out at Dawson’s dance video describing it as ‘ill-judged’. The Maori Party co-leader Sir Pita Sharples said, “The Haka is done as a way of honouring the enemy. You do it if you’re up for a challenge. By doing the Haka as the All Blacks do, it’s recognising the worth of the other side. So if they’re doing something to mock the Haka, then that’s pretty shameful,” as The Guardian reports.

However, All-Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu has downplayed any concern over the video and said, “It’s actually quite funny seeing him doing it. It is something he has looked at. It is part of what we do but it is not what we do as a rugby team, we go out there to play the game. It is his view on the way he sees it. He sees it different to us.”

Here is the Matt Dawson’s ‘Hakarena’ video:

However, the New Zealand national team is trying hard to keep their start to the 2015 Rugby World Cup to be as low key as possible. Their head coach Steve Hansen do not want to get questioned about off-field spats such as the one involving Dawson’s video which is shot with the help of players from Battersea Ironsides RFC.