Maybe you should have started your argument like this WD...
No team actually has any right to any special privilege before a sports match. In the unique case of the haka it has become more than just kiwi tradition. It is part of rugby culture now. One would have to weigh up the negativity, if any, as involves the haka against what it does for the game as a spectacle.
As for whether or not it provides any advantage, it's anyone's guess. It might provide some advantage in terms of momentum but trying to gauge just how much would be quite difficult.
It would be interesting to look at similar situations for which there is data with parallels that could be compared to the mindset opposition are put in by being made to stand an "accept the challenge".
Are there any similar situations anyone can think of? Maybe something like reprimanding an animal and seeing how it responds to commands immediately afterwards. Testing mental acuity in the presence and absence of authority. Evaluating the agreeableness of concert goers watching relatively aggressive punk/rock music. Obviously those are poor examples, but you get my point.
See, titface. Its possible to have a reasonable discussion about something without having to jump on your bloody patriot wagon.
And that's a summary of your problem. Nobody is asking you to defend the haka. Nobody is asking you to betray NZ. You're on a rugby forum that comprises people from different countries. From time to time discussion will inevitably move towards something that involves NZ. How are you at all contributing if all you can do is blindly defend something when nobody is even attacking it?
I've said it here before and it holds especially true for you. The brain responds to disagreement through the same pathways that it uses when being attacked. Most adults are however able to separate the two. There is a clear correlation between intelligence and this ability to separate.
More intelligent adults are able to entertain ideas even though they don't agree with them. It's where progress is born.
The question is...where do you sit on that continuum?
Now, try asking any Saffa on this forum a similar question to the one i posed to you. Almost none of them will jump right on the defensive. And everyone here knows it. And it's got nothing do with lack of national pride.
You'll make up some bull shit about how i'm scheming, manipulative blah blah blah but in reality that's just to hide the fact that you are in no way open to have any discussion about anything that involves anything which might in any way, even for a moment, reflect negatively on NZ.
I never said i don't attack people. I said i don't JUST attack people. See the difference?
