Madam, - Some people are still in denial about the true nature of the assault on Brian O'Driscoll in the first rugby test. The New Zealand coach Graham Henry is definitely in denial as are some of your correspondents. They protest too much that this assault was not deliberate.
How do they know? The players involved did not have the common decency or good manners to explain to O'Driscoll that it was not deliberate or even to apologise.
In the absence of an explanation and a full apology from Umaga and his chum we can only assume it was deliberate. It looked that way to me and most other reasonable people. Now that Umaga has finally broken his silence all he has to offer is some generalised rubbish about rugby being a tough sport and these things happen. These things do not just happen. They are caused to happen. This incident has left a very nasty feeling about the nature of New Zealand Rugby.
As far as the Haka is concerned, it is now clear that there is nothing innocent about it. We used to find it mildly eccentric and went along with it because it is a part of New Zealand culture. Now I feel there is nothing entertaining about a group of grown men dancing around like a pack of demented cannibals with bulging eyes and protruding tongues.
In future teams should give it the respect it deserves by turning their backs on it. - Yours, etc,
HARRY ROBERTS, Stameen, Drogheda.
Madam, - As a Kiwi, I always thought the Irish were fairly objective in their viewpoint. But I have been forced to change my mind as a result of "that" incident last Saturday.
It seems that because it involved the pin-up boy of Irish rugby, it has been totally blown out of proportion, with the help of Clive Woodward and his spin machine. It any other player had been injured, would there have been so much comment?
Talk of assault and legal action is ridiculous. Let's remember that rugby is a physical game. Umaga is not a dirty player and neither is Mealamu.
The matter is finished so let's move on. Otherwise you will start sounding like the whingeing Poms across the water. - Yours, etc,
DOMINIC BEST, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.
Madam, - The New Zealand All Blacks' Haka is an ancient war dance handed down by the native Maoris, involving a lot of stamping, thigh-slapping, arm-waving, shouting and sticking out of tongues.
It is designed to give them courage for the contest ahead and to intimidate their opponents, and it generally achieves both aims - particularly, it would seem, against the latest British and Irish Lions.
But why do their opponents accord it any respect whatsoever? Why do they just stand and politely face the All Blacks as they do their girlie thing - or, in Brian O'Driscoll's case, throw some blades of grass in the air as a sign of warrior esteem? The Haka is nothing but a pre-match mind game, and an eminently successful one. But it works only because opposing teams choose to co-operate.
The All Blacks' opponents, since they don't have a comparable ceremony, really ought to play a mind game of their own. They should simply ignore the Haka, turn their backs, chat among themselves, giggle derisively at the dancers and generally dismiss the performance - all behaviour that the macho All Blacks would find supremely irritating. - Yours, etc,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.
Madam, - In view of the confusion surrounding the "correct response" to the Haka is it not now time to dispense with this hysterical piece of Grand Guignol for once and for all?
Alternatively, the Lions team could perform (in no particular order) the Highland Fling, a bit of Morris dancing, an Irish reel and the Rhif Wyth (an old Welsh Dance).
By the time all that was finished we might actually enjoy a good game of rugby! - Yours etc,
MAURICE INGLIS, Aranleigh Vale, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.