Maori All Blacks

The New Zealand Māori All Blacks are a formidable team who play at the International level and have a very proud history and record, having claimed some major scalps over the years including tier 1 nations such as England, France, Australia and Ireland. The Māori All Blacks are NZR's second ranked team and a prerequisite for selection is that players must have Māori whakapapa (genealogy / ancestry).

Things kicked off for the Maori All Blacks back in 1888-1889 when the New Zealand Native football team embarked on a tour of New Zealand, Australia, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and was the first NZ side to perform a haka, and the first to wear an all black kit. The tour was an independent endeavour organised by Joseph Warbrick and not sanctioned by NZRU.

In 1910 the first New Zealand Māori team was given official status by the NZRU. That team toured Australia & New Zealand, playing a combination of New Zealand provinces and Australian state teams. They also wpicked up two fixtures against an American Universities squad that was touring Australia at the same time. Both matches were won by the New Zealand Maori All Blacks. Of the 19 matches played they won 12, drew 3 and lost just 4 games.

The New Zealand Māori All Blacks had not played an official match outside New Zealand or Australia until 1926, when they toured England, Wales and France. They played two games in New Zealand before they left, then two in Australia, followed by a brief stop off in Sri Lanka for a solitary match before travelling on to Europe. On the way home to New Zealand they stopped for a final game in in Victoria, Australia, which they won 41-3. In all they played a total of 40 games. The New Zealand Maori All Blacks won 30, with 2 draws and 8 losses. Of that period, full-back George Nēpia was certainly the most notable player.

With the dawning of rugby's professional era in 1995, the team lost just four of 26 games played between 1994 and 2004, beating England, Argentina, Scotland and Fiji along the way. The Māori All Blacks continued their winning form through 2004 beating the England Saxons in the final of the Churchill Cup in extra time.

The Maori All Blacks typically play in two annual tournaments, one being the Pacific Nations Cup, a competition involving the Pacific top national teams in which they replaced the Junior All Blacks, and were undefeated champions beating Australia A in the final game of the tournament. The Churchill Cup was another regional tournament which they won in 2004 and in 2006, defeating Ireland A and the USA in pool play in Santa Clara, California and Scotland A in the final in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Māori All Blacks beat the British & Irish Lions for the first time in an official match in 2005. Preparations for this match saw them withdraw from the Churchill Cup that year. In August 2012, the NZRU announced the New Zealand Māori All Blacks would play three games in the UK, including a fixture against Canada.

In 2010 they defeated Ireland and England, marking 100 years of the team in dominant fashion.

Having previously been called the New Zealand Māori and New Zealand Maoris, the team was renamed the Māori All Blacks in 2012.