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A tale of two chants: How the Lions tour is getting louder by the game
The All Blacks‘ attempt to start a parochial New Zealand rugby chant has been embraced wholeheartedly… by Lions supporters.
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The last month has been a pretty long and interesting time. I’ve been to every game of the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand, from Whangarei to Dunedin. I’ve listened to a lot along the way – opinions of locals and tourists alike, the Kill Bill theme booming out around grounds when the Lions take the paddock, and the bored drone of Warren Gatland as he sits through another press conference he doesn’t want to be at.
I’ve also listened to several attempts to get New Zealanders to chant “Tutira Mai – Tatou! Tatou!”
Pretty much everyone in New Zealand knows this song. They teach it to us in school, and it’s often busted out as either a default option for when a singalong is mandatory, or as a drunken bonding tool for backpackers on their OE.
This month NZ Rugby have tried to make it into a rousing call to drown out raucous Lions fans. There’s been an ad campaign starring former All Black Glen Osborne, videos that have played on big screens before and during every match of the tour, and a traveling MC who gets the chant going just before kick off and at halftime.
But… it hasn’t quite worked. This isn’t a slight on the union or the agency that came up with it, because it is getting engagement and does sound pretty good. The main problem is that the only people chanting are the Lions fans, who have appropriated it as their own – replacing “Tatou! Tatou!” with “Lions! Lions!”
I don’t really mind that last bit, because after the Crusaders and Highlanders games I started to feel sorry for the poor guy (who I’m sure used to be a substitute teacher at my high school) whose job it is to try and get the crowd involved. In the second test he finally bit the bullet and did his pre game piece on the big screen in a huge section of Lions fans, because he knew they’d at least join in.
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So far Rotorua has been the only place where it got a modicum of buy-in from local fans. But the trampling the Maori All Blacks got from the Lions that night meant everything, including the chant, went flat quicker than a plastic cup of Waikato Draught.
That’s not to say the local crowds have been quiet at every game, though. About 25 minutes into the match against the Highlanders, the Dunedin faithful burst into their version of the White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’, overlaying the main riff with “Wai-sa-ke Na-ho-lo”.
That seemed to unleash a beast among the traveling fans. From then on, whenever Maro Itoje has done anything remotely positive, the British have given the song the same alt-lyric treatment with his name.
Both versions battled for supremacy in the second test, when both men started. This is the key moment when international rugby got as close to a game of football, or at least a darts tournament, than it has ever been.
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Fancy a singalong? You know the words… #AllForOne #LionsNZ2017
?Ohhh, Maro Itoje!? pic.twitter.com/vmwdi0q9Ug
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 1, 2017
The story of how the 2003 indie tune became so prominent in the world of sports is an interesting one, however the Highlanders have so far been the only rugby side to adopt it in this part of the world. After this tour though, we could be hearing even more versions around Super Rugby to recognise the feats of players with the right amount of syllables in their names.
Saturday night in Wellington was the loudest crowd the tour has had, maybe the loudest I’ve ever experienced a rugby ground get in New Zealand – and at its zenith were the competing Naholo and Itoje chants. Given what’s at stake for the third and deciding test at Eden Park, it’s probably going to get even louder. Maybe it’s time to embrace the organic and stop trying to make ‘Tutira Mai’ happen – so far all it’s done is fire up the wrong set of fans.
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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