Hehehe. Me too Ice! Lets see those Aussies do somthing rather then lean on each other. 
The Haka is pretty awesome to watch. I had the pleasure of a very drunken Stu Wilson flyin gon several different herbs and spices do the Haka solo in a bar in Melbourne around the World Cup. Then I got to see the All Blacks two days later do the Haka against IIRC Italy.
Stu Wilson was always a loose unit.
I’m going to be controversial here, but I don’t buy this haka nonsense and I don’t know why other teams play along with it. Yes, I know I’m being grumpy and its all in good fun. I just don’t understand why everyone who plays NZ is obliged to start the game according to their own special rule, especially when they’re not playing at home.
There’s having friendly competetive relations between teams and then there’s letting them take the mickey. I don’t know of any regulations in any sports that say you have to stand around like a collection of spare parts while the opposition waggle their fingers in your face. Yet apparently everyone is obliged to do it when playing NZ, or face being called bad sports (or, even worse, scared) because it’s traditional.
So here’s a tradition for you NZ. You line up here doing nothing and looking foolish, while we stand over there, throwing rocks at you and shouting things about your mother. That’s how we traditionally warmed up before a confrontation. Don’t know about you, but it’d certainly set us up nicely for the game!
Or how about we say its the same rules for everyone? Do what you want, but don’t expect the opposition to play the stooges to your warm up.
Fair call, but we have been doing it for a bloody long time now. If you wanted to protest you should have done 80 yrs ago at least.
It has become tradtion now. The NZ public defintely expect it and all our regular oppenents know it will happen.
No one ever said Morris dancing, Aborigninal spear chucking or even the deadly bagpipes were illegal.
The haka has been part of NZ sporting participation for a long time, if you have no response that is your issue. Part of being a Kiwi is seeing the haka. More fool you for letting it happen.
I just got the disturbing image of an Irish team riverdancing before a match.
Now see that is the Ireland-NZ prelim I want to see. Unsettling but ethnicly appropriate 
Has anyone told Terminus Est that he gave of photos of the New Zealand Rugby Footballl team ?
calm kiwi , as our cultural attaché, will you accept my thanks for the very , ahem, “esthetically pleasing” topless version of the haka that your rugby sevens lads treated us to after victory over the English* in Bordeaux this year ?
There was no other reason but to reward the crowd, one ‘performance’ in front of one stand and then they crossed over and di it again for the other stand so that everyone had a chance to see. The crowd were mesmerised and, appart from the All Blacks themselves, the stadium was silent.
*Sorry Futile Gesture but you beat them the following weekend and at the moment Wales don’t even have a sevens squad 
Yah, I realized that right after I had posted. Still, no one seems to have noticed until know.
Obvioulsy they’re all more polite than me 
Bugger! I didn’t look at the links or I would have been rude
Topless Hakas are a very fine thing.
…if only the Silver Ferns would do a topless Haka…
:: dreams ::
…no, Maori’s don’t have a problem with “white guys” doing the haka, its just the done thing over here. I’m half Maori and half Samoan, and actually its an honour to see any New Zealander, be they Maori, English, Tongan, or Chinese, perform the haka. The haka that you normally see performed on TV is Te Rauparaha’s haka, his history can be found here:
http://history-nz.org/rauparaha.html
Different tribes and different schools have their own haka’s, I attended Rongotai College, where we had our own haka, that the whole school learnt. There is nothing more awesome than watching 500 people performing a haka in unison, I tell you. And yes, people from other cultures perform the haka as well-its amazing how well certain aspects of Maori culture have intergrated into New Zealand society…
Having seen the photos, I’d love to see the haka performed.
In a way, it brings American pro wrestling to mind. Seriously: WWE and ECW both employ a lot of flash and intimidation tactics, and I can see how the haka would work in a similar fashion. One question, though: Do they do it before every game? If so, doesn’t that kind of reduce the impact when they do it at crucial games like the Olympics or World Cup?
I’d think a sword dance would be more appropriate. And you know Riverdance is the name of a traveling show with various dance forms, not a form in itself, right?