All Blacks Haka - New Zealand Haka ( Part 2 )

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Responses

Most teams have watched the haka passively but some have not. In 1989 Irish captain Willie Anderson led his team forward to a virtual face to face confrontation. Newport that year retired behind their goalline, so the All Blacks advanced to the 22 to issue their challenge. English hooker Richard Cockerill eyeballed Norm Hewitt as he led the haka at Manchester in late 1997. There have too been various Australian reactions.

Prior to the 2005 test against Wales the Welsh Union requested that the All Blacks perform the haka after the singing of the New Zealand national anthem, the haka to be followed by the Welsh anthem. This, the Welsh anthem as a response to the haka, was the sequence that took place before the 1905 test. The All Blacks agreed as a one-off arrangement but resisted when the Welsh made the same request a year later. The matter was discussed over a six week period but agreement was not reached.

The upshot was that the All Blacks performed their pre-match haka in the changing room, to the disappointment of many in the crowd. After the match captain Richie McCaw said “the team acted to protect the tradition of haka that is integral to New Zealand culture and the All Blacks’ heritage.” The Welsh Union talked of seeking a ruling from the IRB but initial reaction from the Board was that the customary arrangement i e the haka being performed just before kick-off, would continue.

A New All Black Haka

One of New Zealabd rugby’s best kept secrets was revealed on 29 August 2005 when the All Blacks performed a totally new haka “Kapa o Pango” before a Tri-Nations test with South Africa.

The new haka arose from discussion within the team about what it meant to be an All Black and the idea for a new haka was one result. The team saw “Kapa o Pango” as an effort to expand the All Black’s tradition of haka and a contribution to the team’s heritage. The new haka has some Polynesian elements, appropriate to a side which now contained a significant number of players of Pacific Island descent

Written for the team by Derek Lardelli of Ngati Porou, and learned over the previous twelve months, “Kapa o Pango” celebrates the land of New Zealand, the silver fern and “its warriors in black”.

The stated intention from the All Blacks is that the “Ka Mate” and “Kapa o Pango” hakas will each be used by the All Blacks and it was “Ka Mate” that was performed before the team’s next match, on 3 September 2005.

The Womens' Haka

At the 1991 World Cup the New Zealand Women's team were asked for a haka, and responded with part of the men's haka. Realising this was not really appropriate the team in 1994 sought and obtained permission from the Ngati Porou to use that tribe's women's haka.

Other Countries

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery. After the success of the 1905/6 All Blacks' haka other teams touring Britain were expected to provide the equivalent.

The Springboks came up with a Zulu war dance, which they persisted with until 1928. All Black vice captain that year Mark Nicholls remembers the Springboks' war dance as "not much of a success".

The 1908/9 Wallabies, captained by Dr Herbert Moran, performed an Aboriginal war cry. Moran, a noted Australian surgeon, feeling the Aborigines had not been well treated, spoke strongly against the war cry, and hid in the back row when he was called on to perform it. It is doubtful if "Wallaby" teams persisted with it but the "New South Welshers" in New Zealand in 1921 performed a war dance before some of their games at least.

All three Pacific Island nations precede their games with a war chant Samoa used to perform the traditional "Ma'ulu'ulu Moa" on tour. However before the 1991 World Cup the "Manu" war chant, considered more "aggro" and effective in psyching players up, was composed. It certainly seems to have worked.

The Fijians chant is the "cibi" and that of Tonga the "kailao".

Thanks goes to the Rugby Museum for providing this wonderful insight into the history of the All Blacks haka.