Now that the dust is starting to settle on the Rugby World Cup the inevitable reflection of what was mostly a brilliant tournament is now occurring.

And despite the bad ref calls and the bad-boy behavior of some, it seems the one issue that has got a lot of people going is the haka or as one British journalist put it 'the most tediously touchy of hot potatoes.'

In an article written British broadsheet The Guardian, the journalist Barney Ronay points to the ridiculous incident of France being fined by the IRB for their advancement on the haka before the Rugby World Cup final.

Most, including the All Blacks and the team's manager were disgusted with the $5,000 fine, with many pointing out that France's stand up to the challenge was all part of the excitement.

It is this making a big deal out of nothing, again, that has seen many question the importance of the haka and how people should respond to it.

As Ronay puts it, "The real objection to all this is the sheer tedium of it all.

"On the face of it the haka has everything: theatre, history, spectacle, authenticity. The enduring touchiness about its reception has glazed all of this with a veneer of unwarranted boredom.

"And so the on-field response, and the subsequent rumbles of outrage at the very notion of an on-field response has evolved into a brain-numbingly dull behavioural cycle, a one-upmanship of cultural offence."

It has to be said, in the All Blacks favour, they will perform the haka whether anyone is watching or not, as proved at the Millennium Stadium in November 2006, after they refused to recreate a famous haka from 1905 for the crowd and instead performed it in their shed away from prying eyes.

There can be no doubt that the haka gives the All Blacks a bit of an on-field boost.

What other team in the world has gained the right to make their opponent wait motionless while they perform and when you think about it, it is amazing that it has been allowed to go on for so long.

As Ronay says, getting rid of the haka is not an option.

It is a piece of sporting history that those who witness it in the flesh feel privileged to see, but it is perhaps the way teams are allowed to approach the haka, which in reality is a challenge, that needs to be changed.