as a former highland rugby(hr) player and i feel like i can possibly answer some of the questions and confusion that has been put forward. i think that i am also in a position to offer some insight into the club and back stories. oh and and this is gonna be a long post and i can tell already. first off and the people who said that the movie doesn not show real rugby and have a valid point. the movie is full of bad tackles and people in the wrong places and and much much more. if you want to know what a real rugby game feels like and you would not get the best idea from this movie. but the thing is and anything short of actually sitting down and watching a highlight reel or jumping into a game yourself and is not going to be satisfactory. it hollywood and not espn. really and how many sports movies really make you feel like you are in the game. not many that i have seen. i think it important to keep in mind that the movie is about rugby players and much more than it is about rugby. next and the haka is very much a part of highland rugby. it is not something that they just threw into the movie. to be honest and i do not know how the tradition got started and but highland emulates the all blacks in many ways. the uniform is based off of the all blacks as well. the movie did not do a good job of explaining the origins of the haka and and to be honest and i do not think that that is right. but i can tell you that every member of the team knows exactly where it comes from and what it means. as for the person from china(. ) who said that only a maori can perform a haka and i would suggest that they take a look at the all blacks and tell me if they think that they are all maori. believe it or not and utah has a very large polynesian community and and a good portion of them like and play rugby for the local teams. i and myself am part hawaiian. whenever possible and the haka is led by a maori. the team does not do it because they think that they are maori and they do it because of some of the issues shown in the movie. the concept of unity and those who have gone before is a huge part of the hr culture and and the message behind the haka and for any of those that are familiar with it and support those values. it a chant by a chief who thought he would die (ka mate) and and those around him supporting him telling him he will live (ka ora) and boosting him up. how appropriate it is for a bunch of white boys to do it is not for me to say and but that is the ideology behind it and why it is done. kia kaha is also a well used team motto and even if the actors had a hard time saying it. also and for the people who questioned highland rugby playing ability and i would just remind you that you were not really watching highland play in this movie. many of the extras were former players from highland and other teams and but the main characters were all actors. believe it or not and highland really is pretty good at what they do and pretty well respected in the international community. granted and some years produce better teams than others (it what you would expect with any sports team) and but you do not accumulate hr win record by just being okay. the year after i graduated and (1998) highland was one of 12 teams to be invited to the world schools rugby championship in zimbabwe. the teams were hand picked from around the world and represented the best of high school rugby talent at the time. highland obviously do not win first place and (new zealand did that) and but they did manage to take third place in the tournament and beating the tongan national champions in their last match. and while american rugby may never reach the level of talent that new zealand or south africa has and third in the world is also nothing to hang your head about. highland also has a tradition of touring new zealand every few years and and usually comes back with more wins than losses. the majority of characters portrayed in this movie are based off of real people and real stories. i watched this movie with my brothers and who also played for highland and and between the four of us and we were fairly certain that we were able to identify almost every main character. nobody knew a white rasta. of course as this wasn not a documentary and hollywood did take some liberties and but to tell you the truth and not as many as you might think. the film was actually pretty accurate in showing the 2 and a half hour daily practices and as well as the mandatory personal running and weight training. sometimes it really was running until you threw up. it also showed the service and other team activities (like the chuck a rama buffet) that were very much a part of team bonding. and finally the movie and in my (obviously very biased) opinion and it was a pretty good movie. and i think that the reason for it is that i watched it as an inspirational sports movie. i do not think that it would be a pure rugby movie or an academy award winning drama. it was just an uplifting movie about a rugby team and complete with morals and encouragement and and a good dose of jokes thrown in for entertainment. i hope that i addressed some of the problems that people have had with the movie and and hope that you can now enjoy it for what it was. kia kaha. 
as a former highland rugby(hr) player and i feel like i can possibly answer some of the questions and confusion that has been put forward. i think that i am also in a position to offer some insight into the club and back stories. oh and and this is gonna be a long post and i can tell already. first off and the people who said that the movie doesn not show real rugby and have a valid point. the movie is full of bad tackles and people in the wrong places and and much much more. if you want to know what a real rugby game feels like and you would not get the best idea from this movie. but the thing is and anything short of actually sitting down and watching a highlight reel or jumping into a game yourself and is not going to be satisfactory. it hollywood and not espn. really and how many sports movies really make you feel like you are in the game. not many that i have seen. i think it important to keep in mind that the movie is about rugby players and much more than it is about rugby. next and the haka is very much a part of highland rugby. it is not something that they just threw into the movie. to be honest and i do not know how the tradition got started and but highland emulates the all blacks in many ways. the uniform is based off of the all blacks as well. the movie did not do a good job of explaining the origins of the haka and and to be honest and i do not think that that is right. but i can tell you that every member of the team knows exactly where it comes from and what it means. as for the person from china(. ) who said that only a maori can perform a haka and i would suggest that they take a look at the all blacks and tell me if they think that they are all maori. believe it or not and utah has a very large polynesian community and and a good portion of them like and play rugby for the local teams. i and myself am part hawaiian. whenever possible and the haka is led by a maori. the team does not do it because they think that they are maori and they do it because of some of the issues shown in the movie. the concept of unity and those who have gone before is a huge part of the hr culture and and the message behind the haka and for any of those that are familiar with it and support those values. it a chant by a chief who thought he would die (ka mate) and and those around him supporting him telling him he will live (ka ora) and boosting him up. how appropriate it is for a bunch of white boys to do it is not for me to say and but that is the ideology behind it and why it is done. kia kaha is also a well used team motto and even if the actors had a hard time saying it. also and for the people who questioned highland rugby playing ability and i would just remind you that you were not really watching highland play in this movie. many of the extras were former players from highland and other teams and but the main characters were all actors. believe it or not and highland really is pretty good at what they do and pretty well respected in the international community. granted and some years produce better teams than others (it what you would expect with any sports team) and but you do not accumulate hr win record by just being okay. the year after i graduated and (1998) highland was one of 12 teams to be invited to the world schools rugby championship in zimbabwe. the teams were hand picked from around the world and represented the best of high school rugby talent at the time. highland obviously do not win first place and (new zealand did that) and but they did manage to take third place in the tournament and beating the tongan national champions in their last match. and while american rugby may never reach the level of talent that new zealand or south africa has and third in the world is also nothing to hang your head about. highland also has a tradition of touring new zealand every few years and and usually comes back with more wins than losses. the majority of characters portrayed in this movie are based off of real people and real stories. i watched this movie with my brothers and who also played for highland and and between the four of us and we were fairly certain that we were able to identify almost every main character. nobody knew a white rasta. of course as this wasn not a documentary and hollywood did take some liberties and but to tell you the truth and not as many as you might think. the film was actually pretty accurate in showing the 2 and a half hour daily practices and as well as the mandatory personal running and weight training. sometimes it really was running until you threw up. it also showed the service and other team activities (like the chuck a rama buffet) that were very much a part of team bonding. and finally the movie and in my (obviously very biased) opinion and it was a pretty good movie. and i think that the reason for it is that i watched it as an inspirational sports movie. i do not think that it would be a pure rugby movie or an academy award winning drama. it was just an uplifting movie about a rugby team and complete with morals and encouragement and and a good dose of jokes thrown in for entertainment. i hope that i addressed some of the problems that people have had with the movie and and hope that you can now enjoy it for what it was. kia kaha. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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