Cultural challenges are an integral part of sports, but how teams respond has been a point of debate for some time.
Self-proclaimed “loose head” England prop Joe Marler called for the haka to be scrapped earlier this week, before “clarifying” what he meant, attempting to pivot his statement, and then back-tracking and apologising.
“The Haka needs binning. It’s ridiculous,” Marler tweeted.
Just 24 minutes later, following a flurry of responses, Marler made a point of “clarification”, saying: “It’s only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week.”
The “league boys” Marler was referring to were the England national rugby league team, who played Toa Samoa as part of a two test series. The response Marler was referring to in the league game involved the England team forming a line and standing on the halfway point of the field to receive the siva tau, a Samoan war dance traditionally performed before going into battle.
Speaking to the media after the match, England captain George Williams said the purpose of his team lining up on the halfway line was to prevent the Samoan team from entering their half. His teammate Mike McMeeken then revealed the response was pitched by team manager Sam Tomkins, who previously played in New Zealand with the Warriors NRL team.
“You’re going to be knocking lumps out of each other to not let people into your own half…I don’t see the reason they have to come into your half to do it,” Tomkins told the media.
“For me it’s quite simple: half the field’s yours and half the field’s ours and we’ll protect our half before kick-off the same way we will during the game.”
Marler is no stranger to controversy involving the haka. Before the 2019 Rugby World Cup semifinal against the All Blacks, Marler crossed the halfway line when England formed an inverted wedge formation in response to the haka (which has been a popular formation for teams to take when facing the haka). He was subsequently fined £2,000 ($4,357NZD) by World Rugby for breaching tournament rules relating to cultural challenges, which specifies rules about crossing the halfway line.
It’s worth noting Marler isn’t the first person to call for the performing of haka to be banned before sports games. While I disagree with Marler about binning the haka, I do support his call for easing some of the restrictions around the haka and challenges in response. The haka, sipi tau, siva tau, and other similar challenges are an integral part of the fabric of sports teams around the world. From schoolboy rugby games through to world cups, some of the greatest sporting pre-match moments have involved haka or similar challenges being performed, and accepted, in dramatic (and sometimes tasteful) fashion.
Here’s a list of some of the most memorable haka or cultural pre-match moments in sporting history:
Big Willie gets taught a lesson
This moment will forever live rent free in my head. It’s become a career-defining moment for two powerhouses of rugby league. It’s 2006, the Kiwis are playing arch-rivals Australia, seeking redemption following one of their worst ever defeats to the Kangaroos earlier in the year. Over 20,000 fans have packed out Mt Smart Stadium, the home of rugby league in New Zealand.
Willie Mason, one of the most popular and feared enforcers on the Australian team, is seen on the live broadcast mouthing the words “f**k off” while the Kiwis perform the haka Ka Mate. It riles up the Kiwis players and fans alike. Mason has just placed a target on his back, which Kiwis player David Kidwell manages to hit later in the game with one of the most iconic shoulder charges in rugby league history. Mason stays down injured following the hit, and gets an earful from Kidwell, who lets Mason know he got the better of him.
Following the event, sporting a big black eye from the tackle, the New Zealand-born Mason claims his pre-match slander was aimed at Kiwis player Brent Webb, who was born in Australia and is of Torres Strait descent. Regardless of the reasoning, all anyone remembers from that event is Mason mouthing off at the haka and Kidwell exacting retribution accordingly.
Haka ends in a brawl
Speaking of intense pre-match challenges, who could ever forget the 2005 pre-match kerfuffle between the Aotearoa Māori and Cook Islands rugby league teams? I remember getting goosebumps while watching it live on the big screen TV at The Crow’s Nest bar in Whangaparāoa, where my dad was working at the time. The Cook Islands team are in Hawkes Bay for the final game in a three-test series against the New Zealand Māori team, looking to salvage a series draw.
The Aotearoa Māori begin their haka, shortly before the Cook Islands team starts performing their traditional pe’e at the same time. The New Zealand side finish first and stand on the halfway line while the Cook Islanders continue their pe’e. Nearing the end of the challenge, players from the opposing teams clash, a Cook Islands player is shoved, and then flies in throwing a punch, resulting in an all-in brawl. The best part of the whole thing was the Cook Islands drummers providing atmosphere with their drumming throughout the whole thing.
NZ Māori square off against Aboriginal team
Sticking with rugby league, one of the most special haka moments caught on camera has to be the first televised game between the New Zealand Māori team and the Indigenous All-Stars. Held as a curtain raiser for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup in Australia, the two teams faced off in a pre-match challenge that “has never been seen before”, as Andrew Voss put it. Knee drops, didgeridoos and long spears – the challenges had it all. It was a rousing spectacle for fans from both sides of the Tasman and arguably the genesis of pre-match performances from Indigenous Australian rugby league teams, which is now a regular feature of all their matches.
Team USA faces the haka for the first time
It might not have been the best haka and was turned into a meme, but the haka performed by the Tall Blacks ahead of their match against Team USA at the 2014 FIBA World Cup put Māori culture in the spotlight at one of the world’s most watched events. The likes of Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, and Kyrie Irving were all a part of the USA side that stood respectfully, watching the Tall Blacks perform. Meanwhile, Curry’s then teammate Andre Iguadola drew the ire of New Zealand NBA star Steven Adams for a tweet comparing the haka to “the A-Town stump [sic]”.
There was another awkward moment at the same tournament, with the team from Turkey walking away from the haka when it was being performed by the Tall Blacks. The Turkey team later claimed ignorance, saying they were unaware of what was going on.
RWC 2021 finals
The Black Ferns. Rugby World cup final. Eden Park. Need I say more? The team performed a spine tingling haka before claiming the Rugby World Cup for a record sixth time, beating England 34–31. The English adopted a strange formation, spreading out across the width of the field. Nevertheless, any out-of-the-ordinary response to the haka creates an electric atmosphere. The rousing haka illustrated the mana of our wāhine, plus their haka prowess.
The opening match of the tournament also featured a powerful haka from the Black Ferns, complete with a plane flyover and another flying v formation from the Australian team.
Samoa vs Tonga at RLWC 2021
The rivalry between Samoa and Tonga is probably one of the most well known in all of the Pacific. It involves the literal conquering of a nation, so it’s no wonder the face-off between the two nations before the 2021 Rugby League World Cup quarter final was so intense. The clash of the sipi tau and siva tau symbolised the immense rivalry between the two proud island nations.
Spectators from around the world tuned in for one of the most highly anticipated rugby league games ever. Parts of Auckland were plastered red or blue. Little Tongan and Samoan flags were flown on cars for weeks. It was arguably the beginning of a new tradition among hardcore fans from either country of rallying behind their teams whenever they had a game. Expect to see the same this weekend with Tonga playing the Kiwis in Tāmaki Makaurau. Samoa were the eventual winners on this occassion, making the semifinals for the first time at the tournament.
Black Ferns Sevens claim Olympic gold
Although technically not a pre-match moment, the haka performed by the Black Ferns Sevens team after they claimed their first-ever Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic games in 2020 has become one of the most replayed haka moments in the world. Images of the team beamed around the globe after they beat France in the final. Many tears were shed as the team performed an emotional haka after the match, instilling New Zealanders around the world with an immense sense of pride in the achievement. It became a symbolic moment that captured everything we love about New Zealand sports.
NZ vs France 2011 RWC final
Another world cup final at Eden Park. Another inverted wedge formation. Another historic New Zealand win. The country was on the edge of their seats for the entire match, as the All Blacks battled for their first world cup win since 1987. “In Piri we trust” it said on my girlfriend’s mum’s T-shirt, complete with a bedazzled silver fern. Our neighbours had set up a grandstand in their pool room. The French formation added to the already incredibly tense situation, with some commentators saying it added unnecessary fuel to the All Black fire, like they needed more motivation. Stephen Donald was immortalised with that kick and finally, William Webb Ellis returned to Aotearoa.
Swing low vs the haka
There have been several instances of English rugby fans drowning out the All Blacks haka with singing. Almost always, the song choice has been the Christian/African-American spiritual song Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Twickenham has been one venue where this has been a common occurrence. My earliest memory of this happening was during the 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour of New Zealand, when there were hundreds of campervans rented by passionate Lions supporters.
There have been instances of Wallabies fans singing Waltzing Matilda while the haka is performed or South African fans singing songs, which has resulted in their teams getting smoked. I’m not against singing or challenges being levelled against the haka, but do so at your own peril.
This is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ On Air
Discussion about this post