Some time ago B Johnson, if I remember correctly, asked why we represent ourselves with the haka instead of, for example, the Highland fling or a good old-fashioned head-banging Morris dance on the sports field.

Well, I have a similar question. Why do we allow ourselves to be represented solely by rugby and/or league, with an occasional mention of netball and cricket and totally ignoring our fine form in soccer and hockey? I mean, what's wrong with shinty or hurling or Gaelic football? Australian football aka Aussie rules? (For the curious, we once fielded an Australian football team in the 1920s that came close to beating Victoria, where the code started.)

I've played hurling, Gaelic football and Aussie rules, and if shinty is anything like those, it should also be great fun. Of course, none of them have an off-side rule, which means the games are very, very fast, and you can't go to sleep at any time. Perhaps that's why we Kiwis don't play them? Rugby unionists seem to have a stop-work meeting every five minutes.

W Parish, Bellevue.