MANILA, Philippines - New Zealand's Wellington Saints know how to make the MVP Cup seem like the World Cup.
As the team faced off with Gilas Pilipinas at centercourt, the Saints broke into the Haka war cry dance, firing up the crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, September 12. Gilas stood respectfully as the Saints performed their dance, but Calvin Abueva broke out a smile during the show.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Wellington Saints doing New Zealand's traditional haka - an ancestral war cry, dance. Part 1 <a href="https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom">@rapplerdotcom</a> <a href="http://t.co/oaJgcTAj0h">pic.twitter.com/oaJgcTAj0h</a></p>— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) <a href="https://twitter.com/janebracher/status/642633090775453696">September 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Wellington Saints doing New Zealand's traditional haka - an ancestral war cry, dance. Part 2 <a href="https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom">@rapplerdotcom</a> <a href="http://t.co/kjcpAGkwV9">pic.twitter.com/kjcpAGkwV9</a></p>— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) <a href="https://twitter.com/janebracher/status/642634047588405248">September 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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The dance, which has been popularized by New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team for generations, is not done solely for intimidation purposes, but also to greet a host country or visiting teams. New Zealand performed the Haka dance at last year's FIBA World Cup against USA.
The Saints put up a valiant fight but fell to Gilas, 84-81. –Rappler.com