Top five haka responses of all time
Whenever the All Blacks there is a special feeling in the air, a mystique if you will.
Rugby fans the world over know the unique challenges the Kiwis pose; at their worst they can beat any team in the world. At their best they are simply unplayable as just about every rugby playing nation has experienced at one point or another.
Widely regarded as the springboard from which the All Blacks launch, the haka sends a tingle down opposition players and fans alike. How a team responds to the haka is often analysed as heavily as the clash itself. Here we take a look at the top five haka responses of all time, each posing their own approach to the famous pre match ritual.
5. Ireland – 1989 Lansdowne Road
As the 1980’s came to a close, the last big international test of the decade would take place at the famous Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Whenever the All Blacks are in town, Dublin is a light with tales of famous battles and the mystique around this seemingly unbeatable force from a tiny Island in the south pacific. In many ways the Irish and Kiwis are similar, two small island nations who continually punch far above their weight on the global sporting scene. On the back of winning the inaugural World Cup at home two years prior, this All-Black squad was stacked with future legends of the game. Names like Grant Fox, Wayne “Buck” Shelford and Sean Fitzpatrick have been immortalised in the annuls of the game. Ahead of the clash, Irish captain Willie Anderson and coach Jimmy Davidson had made an agreement not to back down to the Kiwis in the pre-match challenge. “I always said that we won the dance but lost the match. You have to not only match them in the haka you have to go toe to toe the whole way. In fairness it was Jimmy Davidson’s idea and I suppose he got a few…idiotic lieutenants to carry it out. And the atmosphere was …if you could have bottled it, you would have made a fortune.” Anderson would later say. Leading the charge Anderson marched towards the All Blacks with seven Irish teammates either side of them as he went face-to-face with the All Blacks. As Anderson says the atmosphere was electric that day as the old Lansdowne Road was rocking.
4. England – 2019 World Cup
A significant win for English Rugby would take place in this semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. Eddie Jones and his side came into the tournament on the back of some seriously impressive performances and as such had little regarded for aura surrounding the back-to-back World Champions. Setting the scene early would be the now famous image of England captain Owen Farrell smirking at the All Blacks throughout their haka. Locking eyes with All Black skipper Kieran Reid, Farrell refused to back down and had that look of someone who was about to do something special. In what would be the most dominant performance over an All-Black side in the previous decade, England came away with a deserved 19 – 7 victory setting up a final clash with South Africa’s Springboks. Unfortunately for the Red Roses it would appear the high of thumping the World Champions would take it out of them as they would go on to lose in the final. Irrespective of this, their unique challenge to the Haka and dominant performance ranks highly amongst the great responses of all-time.
3. Wales – 2008 Millennium Stadium
Speaking of the 2007 World Cup, New Zealand weren’t the only tier one team to fall short of expectations. Having fallen to a shock pool defeat at the hands of Fiji, Wales saw their tournament end before even reaching the knockout stages. In the wake of the loss, head coach Gareth Jenkins was shown the door and Kiwi Warren Gatland was brought in. Under Gatland Wales would go on to become one of the best sides in the world. In his first November series in charge, “Gats” would oversee a titanic tussle with his home country. Although the final score line of 29 – 9 would suggest a dominant All Black victory, the opening half was a physical battle unlike many others. It all started with this epic response from the Welsh to haka, clearly unwilling to take a step backwards the officials had to step in to separate the two sides.
2. Munster – 2008
2008 was the year of Haka responses. In a clash of two of Rugby’s biggest brands, Irish provincial side welcomed the All Blacks to Thomond Park on a typical November evening. Having previously lost to the southern province in 1978, the All Blacks were only too aware of the danger this Munster side posed and duly picked a strong squad the midweek fixture. That 1978 fixture had lived long in the memory of both nations even though the All Blacks would win the next fixture in 1989. Up until 2016 that Munster victory would be the only win for an Irish side over the mighty All Blacks. In 2008 Munster featured a very strong squad who had recently been crowned Heineken Cup Champions for the second time. In that squad was the legendary All Black winger Doug Howlett as well as three other highly talented Kiwis in Rua Tipoki, Jeremy Manning and Lifeimi Mafi stood forward to offer an incredible haka performance of their own. As the trio stepped forward the crowd went to a level never seen before at the historic ground. The fixture itself was an all-time classic with the visitors avenging the team of 78 with a late score to break Munster hearts 18 – 16.
1. France – 2007 World Cup
The circumstances around Frances appearance in this fixture were a key reason to this haka confrontation boiling over. As hosts of the 2007 World Cup, the weight of a a nation was resting on this talented French squad. On opening night of the tournament, they faced off with Argentina’s Los Pumas at the home of French Rugby the Stade De France. Unfortunately for Les Bleus what transpired was on par with a scene out of Les Misérables as Los Pumas ran away with a deserved 17 – 12 victory. This loss put the hosts on the backfoot immediately as the prospect of a home quarterfinal was all but gone. In a joint bid to host the tournament, France teamed up with Wales and Scotland as co-hosts which meant that there would be four fixtures played in Cardiff with one of them being this quarterfinal tie. After dispatching Georgia, Namibia and Ireland, Bernard Laporte’s team rebounded to defeat the mighty All Blacks at the Millennium stadium in what has gone down as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments