All Blacks coach Graham Henry hopes the stand-off at the end of the haka in Cardiff was a one-off.

The Welsh players drew praise from the All Blacks for their response to the Kapa o Pango haka when they stood, arms linked, and stared the All Blacks down.

New Zealand responded in kind and a "you blink first" stand-off ensued for at least a minute.

South African referee Jonathan Kaplan made several attempts to shoo either side back but it was only when All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw turned his back on Wales that the drama ended.

It was a captivating minute or so and was greeted with huge applause by the crowd of 74,067 at the Millennium Stadium.

Earlier in the week the four New Zealanders in the Munster team had performed a haka of their own ahead of the All Blacks in Limerick.

The haka is a constant issue in Britain and Ireland, fuelled in part by a belief that Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll was set up ahead of the first test in Christchurch in 2005.

O'Driscoll plucked some grass form the turf at AMI Stadium and tossed it away and many in Ireland, in particular, link that to his injury at the hands of Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu a few minutes later.

But the British media are also obsessed with its place in the game and consistently pepper interviews and press conferences with questions about the haka.

Henry seems to have had enough of the drama that follows the haka like a shadow.

"The Welsh thought that was the best way to respond, I just wondered when the game was going to start," he said of the Millennium Stadium stand-off.

"I'm pleased someone had some common sense, which was the All Black captain.

"I don't think we need that every week and I hope there's not a copycat situation that occurs.

"We've been through that - it caused some interest at the time for a lot of people and I hope we move on and get more sensible."