A number of our nations top rugby players have been striving to implement more of their native tongue into their normally quite monotonous post match interviews.
One such legend is Manawatu captain and former All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder, who has been proudly using te reo in his post match interviews for the Turbos (watch the video above).
The move has been met with widespread support in the rugby community, but unfortunately not all of Aotearoa is impressed with the te reo renaissance we are currently experiencing.
A video of Nehe's post match interview was posted to social media, and one misguided individual took offense to his use of te reo, calling it an insult to other "NZers".
Which is incredibly puzzling, because what is actually insulting to this country, the use of te reo as this person suggests? Or is it maybe the historical mass cultural sterilisation that aimed to completely eradicate our indigenous language and culture? You be the judge.
The comment says: "Why the bloody hell does he talk Māori? It's an insult to all NZers. It's getting out of hand. Otherwise just put plain English" (We've edited the comment to make grammatical sense seen as how language is apparently important to the woman who made the remarks).
The comment caught the attention of Nehe, who posted a classy response in his Instagram page yesterday:
"Tōku reo tōku ohooho, tōku reo tōku māpihi maurea."
"That is why.. Arohanui kia Diana me ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa 🙏🏽❤️ Don't forget to tune in next week 😄 #ĀkinaTeReo"
Shout out to Nehe for his professional response to the situation, he handled himself with dignity and upheld the mana of his people in the face of racial discrimination.
We salute you Nehe!
