Evolution of the All Blacks haka, from macarena-esque dance to mana-enhancer
Friday, 27 October 2023
Our men in black stride onto the field in front of a packed Stade de France as they prepare to take on Argentina.
It’s the Rugby World Cup 2023, and this semi final match will see the All Blacks take a step closer to a finals spot.
The team get into position - the formidable spearhead, as the men prepare to perform an ancient ritual that nearly every All Black before them has done.
“Kia rite! Kia rite! Kia mau!” Aaron Smith chants while holding a hoe, calling for the All Blacks to prepare for battle.
The team responds:‘Hi!’ – they’re ready for war.
To Smith’s right, Anton Lienert-Brown and Reiko Ioane pukana. It’s haka time. The team win 44-6 over the Pumas.
Historically, the haka – an ancestral war dance – was performed in ferocious battles by iwi Māori. Today, it has evolved, and is used more in a ceremonial space rather than in an actual war.
Ka Mate, the most famous haka of all, belongs to Ngāti Toa iwi. As part of their settlement with the Crown, legislation was written acknowledging Ngāti Toa rangatira Te Rauparaha as the composer of Ka Mate and acknowledged Ngāti Toa hold the intellectual property rights over the haka.
New Zealand Rugby signed an agreement in 2011 with Ngāti Toa, allowing the All Blacks to continue performing Ka Mate.
Like the stage on which the haka is performed has changed, so has the way in which the All Blacks have performed it.
From what looked like a rendition of the Macarena when the All Blacks performed the haka in the early 1900s, the men in black have now taken on the meaning of what a haka is – and it shows – thankfully.
We take a look back at how the haka has evolved.
The ‘New Zealand Natives’ introduce the haka to the rugby world – 1888/89
The very first New Zealand representative team, called the ‘Natives’, toured Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889.
Throughout the tour, the team would introduce Ka Mate, performing the haka before each match, and ended the tour winning 78 of their 107 matches.
The haka was used by the ‘original’ All Blacks during their 1905/1906 tour of the British Isles, France and the United States.
The haka was only performed by the All Blacks on foreign soil, that changed in 1986.
Shelford and Reid intervene – 1987
One of New Zealand's greatest rugby players, Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford became an All Black in 1985, and from that moment the All Blacks haka would be transformed forever.
Prior to that, the quality of the All Blacks haka, by today's standards, was somewhat poor.
With very little Māori input in the early years, the haka was uncoordinated and messy to look at.
But while on tour in Argentina in 1985, Shelford and team-mate Hika Reid decided enough was enough, and began training the team on the meaning of Ka Mate and how to perform it. In short – it was a game changer.
Shelford was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby and the community in 2021.
Kapa o Pango – 2005
It’s 2005 and the All Blacks drop a new beat on the nation – Kapa o Pango – and it’s a banger.
The new haka made its debut before a tri-nations match against the Spingboks in Dunedin.
Kapa O Pango, was written for the team by Sir Derek Lardelli (Ngāti Porou), an artist, kapa haka and tikanga Māori expert. The title translates to ‘Team in Black’, and focusses on the team itself and its history.
When it was first performed, it caused controversy, particularly the throat-slitting gesture during the performance, which was later amended.
Lardelli explained at the time that the haka was misunderstood and that the throat-cutting gesture at the end did not symbolise the slaughter of opponents.
“Playing rugby at this level, with this intensity, is the cutting edge of sport,’’ he said. “The players are on the knife edge. They are gladiators in the arena. If they win they are heroes. If they lose they are taken apart.’’
Kapa o Pango was amended in 2007, with the throat-slitting gesture replaced for domestic tests against France and South Africa with the raising of the right arm from the left hip to just above the right shoulder. It made a return in 2011, but was removed again in 2019.
Rugby World Cup final: All Blacks v Springboks. Where: Stade de France, Paris. When: 8am Sunday (NZT). Coverage: Watch live on Stuff (with te reo commentary option), Sky Open and Sky Sport 1 from 6.30am.