Crusaders slam Haden's racial claims

35% of the Crusaders have been Maori or Polynesian.....get on with it. Thats the fact Tutu and the rest who are trying to stir it up try facts they work better than your self fulfilling racist rubbish.

How can you even give credit to such a rubbish statement? There really isn’t a single Super 14 franchise in NZ that hasn’t got more than their fair share of coffee coloured players. That is all that needs to be said really. Giving this clown more credit by posting about him is something I will not do… bump

But Jerry - you're not trying to bring facts to a racial vilification argument are you. I was at the pub on Sat night with my mate who also went to CBHS (home of Merhtens, Carter & numerous others) & out of 100 boys in our year he was only of only 3 maoris & there was only one PI. Now that was a few years ago but CBHS is not a private school, it's a state school with a strong rugby tradition. So in that school there was approx 3%. Now ChCh has approx. 300,000 people, 10,00 PIs = 3%, so having ONE PI player in a squad of 30 is proportional, having 2 means they must be discriminating against us white fellas !

Tutu, I believe Tew said it was the will of the NZ Maori Rugby Board. This extract from a May 15 NZPA article. The NZRU explained it hadn't apologised earlier because of advice from the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board (NZMRB). "The NZRU first set out to consider this issue in 2009 as we prepared for the centenary of New Zealand Maori in 2010 and believed it was right to ask for advice from the NZMRB. "The NZMRB's advice was that an apology might have the effect of unfairly condemning past Maori administrators and that it was more appropriate to focus on the present and the celebration of the New Zealand Maori centenary year. "However, we acknowledge the steps taken by the South African Rugby Union (SURA) and by the South African minister for sport and recreation in response to these issues." Tew and Eagle said the centenary year was an appropriate time to issue an apology as it looks to honour all players who wore the NZ Maori jersey.

Stop being such a hypocrite how dare he chastisize someone else for having a not so popular opinion when his actions were just as inflammatory. As a maori myself I find this all quite amusing really because it seems it is non polynesians who are up in arms the most. Frano Botica another well respected All Black has also come out and backed Haden and it seems the list is only growing. when you say move on I wonder if you also say the same to the South African Blacks the Australian Aboriginals and African Americans?? You got your sorry now get over it and move on. I'm sorry Sunshinecoasteer the World doesn't work like that. Like I said how ironic a man who refused to say sorry and only did so because he had no other option is now having a go at a man who gave his own opinion. Tane Norton like Haden is only one man he does not speak for everyone

Like Tane Norton said,its time to move on Answer me this Tutu.what do you want Tew to do

The most alarming and Hypocritical thing here is. Steve Tew and his merry men refused to acknowledge the racially based teams of the past, they also refused to say sorry until their hand was forced bythe minister from SA and then the SARU. Do you not see how rich it is for Tew to now come out saying it's insulting that they are being accussed of this? When in fact his and the NZRU's stance on the Maori issue was insulting not only to Maori but to the majority of rugby fans. Tews ignorance and willingness to ignore the past can not be overlooked here. Hadens comments were made withyout thinking however Tew and his buddies made a caluclated decision to ignore and totally disregard the Maori by not making an apology until they had no choice but to. In the end it was only made to save face and everyone in this country knows there was barely a word said with any meaning when it did come out.

Rubbish. There are about 8-9 Crusaders squad players with Maori or PI ancestry. What a load of toff.

Qualify that statement please.

MattamkII i agree with u. in south africa the afrikaans are massive people while the blacks tend to be smaller hence the blacks that are in the boks sqaud are usually backs...

Christchurch is, generally speaking, a "whiter" city than say Auckland or Wellington, but it's ludicrous to suggest there's an actual policy against selecting Maori and Pacific Islanders. The players of that heritage in this season's squad alone have already been pointed out. Look at the heritage of the players named in the Crusaders all time XV named by The Press newspaper earlier this year. Leon MacDonald (Maori) Rico Gear (Maori) Caleb Ralph (Maori) Casey Laulala (PI) Aaron Mauger (Maori) Mose Tuiali'i (PI) Just missed selection Norm Berryman (Maori), Marika Vunibaka (PI), Afato So'oalo (PI), Daryl Gibson (Maori), Ron Cribb (Maori), Norm Maxwell (Maori), Greg Feek (Maori), Corey Flynn (Maori). Doesn't look very racially biased to me. Do the Highlanders have many more PIs or Maori?

I don't know how truthful these claims are, but isn't Haden just the New Zealand equivelant of Campo. It's amazing how New Zealand have always fielded such cohesive teams, with every player putting team first. Yet at the same time you have guys like Meads and Zinzan Brooke coming out of the woodwork to criticise the side from time to time, guys like John Hart and Laurie Mains being rolled out for copy every year. The New Zealand media are DIABOLICAL for that - they'll roll anyone out for copy. Haden's always been the most outspoken. Great player... though I do hate him for some of the stuff he got away with on the field.

Sorry Jerry I totally agree with you on demographics. But also think about my point this way, if the blues decided to change their playing style to a structured kicking game would the same players be picked? No... Would the team likely be whiter? Yes.

That's a bit backwards Matta - the Blues play a PI style cause they've got lots of PI players (the vast majority of PI people in NZ live in greater Auckland) not the other way abound.

dohh!!!! is that what its all about sunshinecoaster

hang on sec, lets face the facts. Certain races tend to have inherent playing styles and any great club has a playing style of its own. So isn't it only natural that some clubs have more or less of any given race? The Blues play a very Poly style of game and therefore have mostly Poly and Maori players, even more race weighted than the 'Saders. It's only natural...perhaps a 'quota' is a bit rough but I suggest thats a stretch of the truth in this case.

Fair points Jerry,he did play mainly for Otago,but i just remember watching him play for Canterbury a fair bit,in the Wiremu Maunsell era etc,who incidentally is another Maori boy who captained Caterbury

How can anyone take this seriously. Crusaders have won 7 titles, and are regularly the BEST kiwi S14 team. I find it would be impossible to achieve this if they ignored talent. I am sure they play the best players available in the best position for them.

There's not heaps of Islanders in the South Island, there's hardly any comparitively. There's about 250,000 Pacific Islanders in NZ of which less than 20,000 live in the South Island. Canterbury has roughly 10,000.

I know he was a Canterbury product, but he was with Otago for the vast majority of his career. He didn't just miss the boat with the Crusaders, he was with Otago years before the S12 started. He was definitely playing for Otago when he made the AB's in 92.