'Canes react to the use of 'Taranaki Land War'

According to Stuff, the post, which appeared briefly on the Hurricanes' Facebook and Twitter pages on Tuesday, was immediately lambasted on social media as naive, ignorant and offensive.

The Hurricanes released a statement and have apologised for the 'genuine mistake'.

"The Hurricanes acknowledge we have made a genuine mistake in regards to a promotion for Friday's match against the Chiefs by referring to a Taranaki Land War.

"Firstly we have unreservedly apologised to Taranaki whanui and Waikato Tainui iwi for any offence we caused.

"To our fans and supporters, this does not reflect the views and values of the Hurricanes family, our players and coaches.

"We are sorry,"

Chiefs coach Mike Collins revealed to Stuff that the advertisement was news to him, though he understood the sensitivity around it.

"Being a Hurricanes home game, I am not aware of the advertising. Growing up in Taranaki I know that the New Zealand wars are an extremely dark patch in the history of the region and still a sensitive issue today," he said.

"I have no doubt that the Hurricanes meant no offence by their advertising, they simply may not have understood the gravity of the wars in the Taranaki region and the ongoing effects on Taranaki iwi."

The Taranaki Land Wars began in 1860, following a dispute over the sale of Te Atiawa land at Waitara in North Taranaki. It lasted until the end of the 19th Century.

The Land Wars claimed about 3 000 lives.

@NZStuff

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