THERE is a place for the stiff upper lip in this Rugby World Cup.

But it only when the gum shield is slipped into the mouth to cushion the blow of a thumping right hook.

Rugby union, like ice hockey, is a sport which exhibits double standards when it comes to violence.

Let's face it, the sport thrives on the rough, tough macho image of pint-swilling brutes.

In the world of rugby, men are men and women play soccer.

Rugby players take the world's hard knocks squarely on the chin.

And that, in essence, is the sport's fascination - the scrapping.

So, officialdom's attempts to stamp out the stamping and knock the fighting on the head are pathetically two-faced.

And one ruling in particular is more desperate than Alex Ferguson in a traffic jam.

I had a tingling in my spine when Richard Cockerill confronted the New Zealand haka head on two years ago.

Now Cockerill and the rest of the England team have been told to stand still, fold their arms and quietly admire the Maori war dance.

Yes, that's right, war dance. The Kiwis are allowed to declare sporting war before the big clash at Twickenham on Saturday because it is traditional.

In England, the tradition is just to politely utter 'I declare!'

It should be remembered that the legend of the haka derives from a Maori chief, Te Rauparaha, hiding from an enemy tribe in pit of sweet potatoes.

So I think we should ignore the wishes of the World Cup chiefs for opposition teams to respectfully observe the haka.

After all, the Kiwis have deliberately adapted an innocent tale into an act of all-out aggression.

For once, we should not allow our opponents to psychologically trample all over us like they did in the Ryder Cup.

And we can start by coming up with an anthem a touch more intimidating than 'Swing low, sweet chariot'.

Neil Bramwell is the Sports Editor

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.