Haka in sports
Newspapers described the full actions of this "ancient ngeri", printing its complete Maori words and an accurate translation.
The 1924–25 New Zealand rugby team which toured the United Kingdom, Irish Free State, France and Canada and which was nicknamed the Invincibles, performed a haka that was written for them during the voyage to England by two supporters, Judge Frank Acheson of the Native Land Court and Wiremu Rangi of Gisborne.
In the early decades, haka were only rarely performed at home matches, such as the third test of the 1921 Springboks tour, played in Wellington.
The "Ka Mate" rugby haka generally opens with a set of five preparatory instructions shouted by the leader, before the whole team joins in:[18][19] Early in July 1903, when the New Zealand players were assembling in Wellington for their Australian tour, The Evening Post reported that "A unique souvenir has been prepared for the New Zealand team by Mr C. Parata.
The reported wording and translation were published next day in the Sydney Morning Herald[20] and in the Sunday Times on 19 July 1903, after the first match against NSW.
It was purpose-written on their voyage to Europe by Wiremu Rangi of Gisborne, and revised by Judge Acheson of New Zealand's Native Land Court.
Newspaper reports of early games spoke of the "weird war cry of the visitors" in response to the crowds' singing.
Thus the fifth game at Swansea began with 40,000 waiting Welshmen singing Cwm Rhondda, Sospan Fach, Land of My Fathers and then God Save the King, to which the All Blacks responded with a "weird chant led by Nēpia".
At the beginning of their 22nd game in Wales at Llanelli, we read On the appearance of the men in red, 'Sosban Fach' was sung with great enthusiasm.
[24]Irish writer James Joyce heard the "Ko Niu Tireni" haka performed at the Invincibles' match at Paris in January 1925.
Before a Tri Nations match against South Africa on 27 August 2005 at Carisbrook in Dunedin, the All Blacks unexpectedly introduced a new haka, "Kapa o Pango".
It featured an extended and aggressive introduction by team captain Tana Umaga highlighted by a drawing of the thumb down the throat.
The words to "Kapa o Pango" are more specific to the rugby team than "Ka Mate", referring to the warriors in black and the silver fern.
An NZRU press release stated thatKapa o Pango has been over a year in the making, and was created in consultation with many experts in Māori culture.
Mason states he was taking exception to Webb, who was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia performing the traditional haka.
[35] In 2005, the All Blacks agreed to a request from the Welsh Rugby Union to repeat the sequence of events from the original match a century before in 1905.
[38] In 2006, the Seven Network TV channel in Australia aired a commercial which used digital enhancement to add handbags to video of New Zealand rugby players performing the haka.
[39] This was inspired by an incident when former All Black captain Tana Umaga struck Hurricanes teammate Chris Masoe over the head with a woman's handbag after the Super 14 final.
[44] In the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, France, after having won the coin toss for the choice of uniforms, famously wore the blue/white/red of the French flag and walked up to within a metre of the haka performance, forming a line of opposition to the performance by the All Blacks, who were wearing a predominantly silver uniform (as opposed to the traditional all black).
Following the final of the 2011 World Cup, the France national team was fined by the IRB for marching to within 10 metres of their All Black opponents during the performance of the haka.
In the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-finals, England fanned out across the pitch and adopted a V-shaped formation before the All Blacks began their haka.
As the All Blacks delivered the challenge, several English players crossed the halfway line and stood their ground when officials tried to usher them back.
In the 2024 Autumn Internationals, England stepped up to the halfway line during the haka while supporters chanted "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
New Zealand national sports teams have occasionally performed the haka (usually Ka Mate) as part of their victory celebrations after winning matches.
The haka is also occasionally performed in this context to honour individual players achieving important career milestones.
[48] At the opening parade of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the New Zealand team stopped in front of the Queen and performed a haka.
[49] New Zealand teams have attracted some criticism for performing haka, on occasions such as winning a swim relay bronze medal.
During the 2013 PDC World Cup of Darts, team New Zealand, consisting of Phillip Hazel and Craig Caldwell performed a haka ahead of their match against Australia.
The high-profile of the All Blacks, and their use of haka has led other Pacific teams to use similar dances from their own cultures, such as the Cibi, Kailao, and Siva tau.
For instance, the "Kapa o Pango" haka was used by the University of Hawaii Warriors in 2006, before they created their own war dance, the "Haʻa", in the Hawaiian language with original movements.
