NZ Team Manager: "The team bears no ill will toward fans who might not understand the significance of the haka"

NEW Zealand made it clear it isn't holding any grudge against Filipino basketball fans who booed while the Tall Blacks performed the haka before their match against Gilas Pilipinas.

Tall Blacks team manager Andrew Dewhurst said he nonetheless hopes the incident will serve as an eye-opener for fans on what the traditional war dance truly means to their country and its Maori heritage.

In a bid to calm the backlash over Wednesday's incident, Dewhurst said it's understandable that some of the Filipino fans have no idea about the significance of the war dance performed by New Zealand's sports teams, notably its world champion All Blacks in rugby union.

“The team bears no ill will toward fans who might not understand the significance of the haka and realizes that we are in a foreign country where people may not appreciate what it means,” said Dewhurst in an e-mail to SPIN.ph.

“However, it is hoped that fans in the Philippines and around the world appreciate it for what it is, a challenge to the opposition borne of our Maori culture and ancestry.”

“We must note that the Philippines team was hugely respectful of the haka (as were the French), perhaps helped by Coach Baldwin's understanding of what it is all about and the importance to New Zealanders,” said Dewhurst.

The booing incident of the Haka dance by some Filipino basketball fans came under criticism, and was even picked up by New Zealand news outlets including the New Zealand Herald Tribune.

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