Hurricanes investigate offensive politically-driven haka by Poua

The Hurricanes are looking into the altered haka that the Poua used before the Super Rugby Aupiki opener against Chiefs Manawa which took aim at the coalition government.

The haka’s leader, prop Leilani Perese, spoke the Maori phrase “karetao o te Kawana kakiwhero” before the start of the haka which translates in English as “puppets of this redneck government”.

The amended version of the haka was completed by composer Hinewai Pomare after players reached out, and then sent to Hurricanes’ management “at the last minute” before the game to receive backing.

The composer said that the players were “frustrated” by the political environment and looking for “words to reflect that” and “add a bit of spice” to the haka.

“I sent it to management at the last minute. They were like ‘go for it. We back you 100 per cent,'” Perese said.

Perese said the message was politically driven to take a stand against coalition government policy towards Maori and that they will “never fold”.

“I don’t care. I believe in what we’re saying, I stand by it,” she said.

“I believe that in rugby, we have a platform where people watch and listen. And why not use our platform to show our people we will never fold?

“To tell the government that we are stronger than ever, and we will never go down without a war.

“We wanted it to represent not just Maori, but people of all races and cultures. When we say ‘taku iwi tuohu kore e!’ that means ‘what will always last is our people, we will never fold.’

“Whether we’re Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Indian, what have you. I thought it was important for us to say because we’ve got a lot of other ethnicities in our team.

“I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just about one culture, it’s about all of us,” she said.

RNZ reports that Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee will comment publicly at some stage after the franchise completes its review.