NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kahu

Te Pou - flair today, gone tomorrow

Chris Rattue
By Chris Rattue
Sports Writer·
10 Jun, 2005 10:36 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Matt Te Pou

Matt Te Pou

Q: Why retire now as Maori coach - and what's next for you?

A: I get the same buzz I did 10 years ago but it's time to move on. There are some good coaching and management guys coming through. The team has a good record and it's better to
go out on a high. I'll firstly go back to my club Whakatane Marist, and then stay involved - maybe in management.

Q: What's the key to a successful Maori side?

A: Achieving a balance. It's about ensuring guys who have not been exposed to this type of culture, those brought up in the cities, feel safe and are never embarrassed. But you don't go over the top. We're here to win. It's about achieving that balance.

Q: What have been the major changes in your decade as coach?

A: Away from the park there is still a lot of singing, a lot of laughter, joining together as a family. But we've ensured people don't pull us away from our main aim - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. There's a huge demand from our people to roll out our top players on schools and maraes but there is a cut-off - we've got to take care of business and be tactically and technically sound.

Q: What's your best memory?

A: When we were losing big time in Perth against Australia in 2002. At halftime I could see in the players' eyes that they weren't gone. They couldn't wait to get back out there. Australia had figured out our game plan from the Queensland and New South Wales games, but the players just said, "Let's throw out the game plan and have a crack at these guys". It went to the wire and I hold that dear.

Q: Bad memories?

A: One. We had a deal with All Black coach John Mitchell that he'd release Taine Randell and Kees Meeuws for our match at Albany against the Barbarians, immediately after that Australian game. In return we released Corey Flynn to the under-21s. But they didn't release Taine and Kees and played them in the Barbarians against us. Taine said he would never face a Maori haka again. He had captained us for years. He felt gutted. When you make deals, you stick to them.

Q: Who have been your standout players?

A: There have been a lot of great players. Leaders like Errol Brain and Deon Muir. Or guys like Jim Coe, who never played a bad game. But the standout is Carlos Spencer. Love or hate him, think what he has given rugby over the years. Those kicks, passes, his little tactical moves. He has a joy for the game.

Q: Where will Maori rugby be in 20, 30, 100 years' time?

A: The team is here to stay. Our people will not allow it to go because they love the sport. Other things have gone like New Zealand Universities, where are they now? But Maoridom hangs on. We're 15 per cent of the population but 35 per cent of the top level players.

Q: What do you say to those who question having a Maori team?

A: We are Maori but also proud New Zealanders. Since we played Australia in 2001, attitudes to us have changed. It was only a handful of years ago that we started singing the national anthem in Maori and Pakeha. Now it is standard.

Q: What do you think about the 'blonding' of the Maori team?

A: Our team is getting fairer, and I guess in 20 years they will all be that colour. They all look like my grandchildren. It's just the way it is. We didn't used to have any tall locks. We were loose forwards or short, podgy fellas standing at second five-eighths. The percentage of Maori blood might only be five per cent with some guys but that is your roots, your connection to the land in Maoridom.

Q: How do you decide Maori eligibility?

A: The players declare their whakapapa through the Super 12. The players need to know although sometimes we need kaumatua support. All we need is a name and an area so we can get hold of a kaumatua to get the genealogy link, so they know their marae, hapu, their iwi. Then we check their heart - whether they are ready to bleed for the cause. There were players 15 to 20 years ago who were named and never turned up. In some cases there was pressure put on them by NPC coaches. Now, it is different. The third thing is to follow the current form, ability and talent.

Q: What part does genealogy play in team bonding?

AL We stand up in a room when the team gets together and say who we are, where we are from, where is our mountain, its name, the name of our river and the awa (streams) and their significance and the name of our marae. It's a position of pride. I found out that Piri Weepu's whakapapa is just down the road from me in the Opotoki area. I'm Tuhoe. He's Whakatohea. You start talking a bit of history. It does make a difference when one of yours stands up as well.

Q: Any other rituals?

A: We've added the odd thing over the past 10 years. After each playing team is read out we break into haka. Then we release it to the media. There's a lot of humour. The guys just crack up. We do some things young children do, like naming the parts of their body to a bit of a song - then you walk forward and do the robot dance. It's quite comical - it just breaks the ice.

Q: Do you have a major message about Maori rugby?

A: Our players want to wear the All Black jersey but they also want to wear the Maori jersey, and it can work. Some might say they are prouder of the Maori jersey than they are of the All Black jersey. It's understandable; it's their culture. They are always going to be part of that marae. But when they pull on the All Black jersey they are extremely proud.

Q: What about tonight? There are claims the Maori team have lost their old instincts and flamboyance?

A: That's 'cos everyone else plays like us now. People used to say: 'Those undisciplined Maoris'. Now they call it flair and you're allowed to do it, like attacking from your own line and turning down shots at goal. Everyone wants to play the game we used to play.

Matt Te Pou

* Age: 54
* Hometown: Whakatane
* Previous: New Zealand Army for 23 years, rose to warrant officer, served in Vietnam.
* Honours: QSM, BEM
* Coaching: Whakatane Marist 1990-92; Bay of Plenty head coach 1993/94 (NPC division two); Chiefs assistant coach 1998/99; New Zealand Maori coach 1995 -05
* New Zealand Maori record: 31W, 5L.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

'Devastated': Liverpool star Diogo Jota killed in car crash aged 28

03 Jul 08:38 AM
Premium
Opinion

Gregor Paul: The All Blacks' bold selection shake-up to become 'killers'

03 Jul 03:42 AM
Motorsport

'Got to dream': Paddon hopeful of launching WRC team

03 Jul 03:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

'Devastated': Liverpool star Diogo Jota killed in car crash aged 28

'Devastated': Liverpool star Diogo Jota killed in car crash aged 28

03 Jul 08:38 AM

Spanish media report the Portuguese forward died alongside his brother.

Premium
Gregor Paul: The All Blacks' bold selection shake-up to become 'killers'

Gregor Paul: The All Blacks' bold selection shake-up to become 'killers'

03 Jul 03:42 AM
'Got to dream': Paddon hopeful of launching WRC team

'Got to dream': Paddon hopeful of launching WRC team

03 Jul 03:00 AM
‘Shown their class’: Robertson backs All Blacks rookies for French debut

‘Shown their class’: Robertson backs All Blacks rookies for French debut

03 Jul 01:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP