English football legend and TV personality Gary Lineker has thrown his two cents in about the All Blacks haka, but perhaps he should have kept his thoughts to himself.
"Must be so hard not to laugh at this if you're the opposition," he said in a Twitter post, with a video of the All Blacks haka, before their victory against Canada on Wednesday night.
Lineker, who hosts English Premier League highlight show Match of the Day on the BBC, has been slammed for his "racist" tweet.
"The fact that Lineker doesn't see this post is racist is frightening," one Twitter user said. "Hang your head in shame Gary.
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"I am a big fan of your comments generally, Gary, but you've called this one wrong," another wrote.
"The haka is an important part of New Zealand culture, and widely respected by opposition teams and supporters."
Even the official Rugby World Cup Twitter account jumped on the bandwagon.
"But they have won the World Cup three times... one would be nice eh?"
Despite a successful football career that included stints at Spurs, Barcelona, Leicester and Everton, the closest Lineker got to a World Cup final was when England were knocked out at Italia 90 in the semi-finals.
The centre forward scored 48 goals for England and became a TV star after he retired.
His comments come after Irish sportswriter Ewan MacKenna called for World Rugby to ban the haka last week, claiming it gave the All Blacks an "unfair advantage".
"There's a practical reason why the haka shouldn't happen as, while it provides a psychological edge through self-inspiration and via an attempt at opponent intimidation, it also provides a small physical edge, as others are forced to stand still and go briefly cold," he claimed.
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