TOKYO (AP) The England players who encroached on New Zealand's pre-match haka indisputably heightened the drama of the Rugby World Cup semifinals.
The All Blacks, however, were fine with it, their coach describing England's response as "fantastic" and "brilliant."
World Rugby confirmed the fine on Wednesday, five days after a half-dozen England players crossed the halfway line in its response to the All Blacks' traditional pre-match challenge.
The fine, reported to be 2,500 pounds ($3,200), was imposed after the sport's governing body deemed England had breached "tournament rules relating to cultural challenges, which states that no players from the team receiving the challenge may advance beyond the halfway line."
England's players stood in a V-formation with players in two lines angling out in a direction that would flank the haka. The French were fined in 2011 for advancing toward the haka, arms linked in a line across the field, before the final which France lost. Critics at the time described that fine as pedantic.
Former England captain Will Carling was among the critics of the sanction, saying New Zealand had the right to perform the haka but authorities had no right to dictate how opponents or the crowd responded to it. The previous week, in the quarterfinals, Irish fans in the crowd sang loudly while the All Blacks were doing their pre-match haka against Ireland.
Steve Hansen, who will be quitting as All Blacks head coach after Friday's bronze-medal playoff against Wales, had to walk a fine line with his reaction to the fine, but couldn't see any issues with England's actions. England players said the idea to respond to the haka had come from their Australian coach, Eddie Jones.
"Dangerous territory here," Hansen said. "I thought their response was fantastic. They didn't get fined for doing what they did. They got fined for going over halfway."
Picture: (Kyodo News via AP);
