All Blacks legend slams ‘disrespectful’ England fans for Haka response
Henry Pollock and the England team responding to the All Blacks Haka as the fans sing 'Swing Low'.
Former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall has claimed that England supporters were not “respectful” when the Haka was being performed.
New Zealand visited Allianz Stadium, Twickenham for the third leg of their Grand Slam tour and before the match they performed their usual war dance.
The English players responded by forming a semi-circle while the fans drowned out the noise of the Haka by singing ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.
Marshall had no problems with the England team but he did take issue with fans for not staying silent during the routine.
‘Negated’ England’s response
“What I wasn’t happy with from the English crowd was them singing ‘Swing Low’ while the All Blacks were doing the Haka,” he said on the GBRANZ podcast.
“I just don’t feel that it’s respectful and I feel that it actually negated England’s response to the haka, which I thought was awesome.
“The way that they formed the shape that they did, they advanced forward. They actually respected and responded to the Haka in their manner, but the reverberations of ‘Swing Low’ being sung around the stadium, you couldn’t hear the Haka.
“I felt that England’s response was basically affected by the crowd.
“What do they think they’re doing? They’re not affecting the All Blacks, all they’re doing is ruining it for those that actually want to see the Haka and England’s response for the first time at the stadium.”
Host Andy Rowe agreed and even stated that his English friend was frustrated by the actions of his fellow supporters.
‘He was fuming’
“That’s the point Marshy. I was with an English mate and he was complaining. He’s English, he was there to watch England win and he was also there to watch the Haka, and he was fuming because you have some guys singing over the Haka all around you,” Rowe said.
“It might sound cool on TV or in the pub, and you hear it, but the reality is, when you’re there you have some d******* about two seats down who can’t sing bleating out ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, and that’s what you hear.”
It is not the first time England fans have sung ‘Swing Low’ during the Haka having done it when these teams have met in previous games at Twickenham.
“It just needs to be verbalised because I’ve watched the All Blacks for basically forever and it’s the only stadium in the world where people do that,” Marshall added.
“No other stadium in the world does it. Everybody else, whether it’s Murrayfield, South Africa or Australia, when the Haka is being performed, the crowd are invested.”
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